Learning to Breathe
by myfoolisheart
Summary: After The Third Lorelai, Tristan and Rory really do become friends. But can they ever really be just friends? Not if fate has anything to do with it.
1. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

Rory was confused. Did Tristan DuGrey somehow make a point about liking her? Or was she just being stupid. Tristan didn't like her. Not like that anyway. He loved to annoy her, and call her Mary and…kiss her breath away. Damn it. 

No, she was sure he had been talking about Summer. He was still hung up on Summer. He agreed with her when she said it. The fact that she saw a little flicker of something in his eyes when he said it did not mean a thing. Because Tristan DuGrey could not possibly like her, Rory Gilmore. It just wasn't right.

Except it not being right, didn't make her think about it any less. It just made her think about it more. 

She had never once since starting Chilton thought about Tristan that way. Even when he was standing in front of her locker, his tongue down some girls' throat. She never got jealous, or wanted to be in that girls place, or even think Tristan was worth any of the effort Paris and all the other girls put in to trying to get him to notice them. 

But she was thinking about it now. 

Damn him.

It wasn't right. She wasn't supposed to think about Tristan that way at all. It was against all that was right in the world. Of course now that she thought about it that way, she couldn't help thinking about his lips…against hers. Kissing her. 

He, Tristan DuGrey had kissed her, Rory Gilmore. And it had been a good kiss. Of course at the time she hadn't thought about it. Hadn't really thought about much as she ran out of the room in tears. But that wasn't about Tristan. 

It was about Dean. Dean, who had told her he loved her and then broken up with her, leaving her heartbroken. Lorelai had been right; Rory had needed to wallow, because she didn't understand how someone who claimed to love her could break her heart like that. She felt bad that she couldn't say those three words. But she just wasn't ready. She needed more time. But Dean wasn't willing to give her that. 

She had needed to cry over Dean, and so all thoughts of Tristan's lips had been shifted to the back of her mind. Where they belonged. They definitely did not belong in her day to day thoughts like they were at the moment. 

Especially when Tristan was sitting right next to her.

"Have you heard a word I've said, Mary?" Tristan asked, perplexed at Rory's lack of concentration.

"Yes, Tristan," she lied. "I just don't find your latest conquest all that interesting." Being Tristan DuGrey, it was pretty easy for Rory to figure out that he was talking about some random girl. Like she wanted to know which bimbo had his attention these days.

Tristan frowned. "I was asking if I could borrow your Math notes from yesterday."

"Oh."

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Fine," she dismissed. "They're in my locker. I'll give them to you at lunch," she told him, effectively ending the conversation as she turned to face forward as Mr. Medina walked into the classroom.

Tristan was puzzled by Rory's behavior. She had never before daydreamt in the middle of a conversation before. Even when he was annoying her, she was always listening, ready to shoot him down.

That was one of the things he liked about her. Just one of the things in a long list, he'd realized lately. 

It was weird, liking a girl this much. Sure he had girlfriends before, but none of them had ever made him feel as much as she did. At first he had teased her because she was different, and he could. But when she never backed down from him, he realized he liked her. Every day became about getting her to notice him, getting her to react to him, like other girls did. And the more she refused to notice him, the more he wanted her. 

And she amazed him in every way. Her life amazed him. And before he realized it he was falling for her. Really falling, for the first time.

When she told him Dean had broken up with her, he really meant it when he called him an idiot. What kind of moron would break up with someone like Rory? 

Of course kissing her and sending her running with tears in her eyes had not been his plan. He always had to mess up, didn't he? The kiss in itself had been amazing. Her soft lips against his had felt so good, and she had kissed him back. He felt her mouth open up to him, and he really felt like he was in heaven.

That didn't last long though. Stupid Dean was between them even when he wasn't there. God, he really hated that guy.

He didn't know why he had even agreed to go out with Paris. He had never seen Paris that like. But Rory had asked him, and they had actually been getting along. She looked so eager that he couldn't say no. He regretted it afterwards. He'd seen how much effort Paris had made, and he hated hurting her. She was probably his oldest friend, even if they weren't exactly friendly at the moment. 

But he couldn't lead her on. He wanted Rory and he couldn't date someone else. Meaningless sex he could do and forget, however messed up that sounded. But dating involved a whole new level of intimacy and he only wanted that with Rory.

She was oblivious though. He thought about telling her straight, but she had a habit of not taking him seriously when it came to this. Like the time he'd tried to ask her to that dance. Maybe he had been a little cocky and wrong in his approach, but she had made it clear that he would be stupid to think she would go out with him.

Things were different now though. They were almost friends now. And if she learnt to tolerate him, maybe she'd realize that he wasn't so bad.

******

Rory stopped suddenly when she noticed Tristan leaning against her locker, looking extremely…well hot. God, where did that thought come from? Tristan was not in any way good looking. Okay, she knew that was a lie, but she was not allowed to think about his good looks. 

Shaking out of her thoughts she carried on walking, wondering why he always managed to appear when she just stopped thinking about him. His little comment about liking 'someone else' was still bothering her. She didn't know what she would do if he actually did like her. 

She didn't like him like that. And she had only just broken up with Dean. Knowing he actually had genuine feelings for her would make school really awkward and she hated awkward situations. Not to mention the fact that Paris would hate her. Not that she didn't hate her already for setting up a date Tristan didn't even want to go on.

"What are you doing here?" Rory asked him as she approached her locker.

"It's school Ror, you know, we have to be here."

"I didn't mean here, here. I meant my locker here," she said as she opened her locker and started moving books around.

Tristan frowned. "You said I could borrow your notes," he reminded her. "It was only a couple of hours ago. You losing your memory in your old age?" he teased.

Rory just glared at him. "Here," she said, handing him the notes of the class he had slept through. "I want them back tomorrow, in the same condition."

"Come on, this is me."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Tristan just rolled his eyes. 

Rory closed her locker and started heading outside where she was planning to eat lunch and read in the relative quiet. But Tristan started walking with her.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked, stopping suddenly and causing Tristan to almost walk into her.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Coming with me."

"You're eating outside, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well so am I."

"Why? Won't you be missed by all your fans," she said sarcastically. She knew they had decided to be somewhat friends now, but his presence was unnerving her.

"Ha ha, Rory. Besides we're friends, right?" he said, almost daring her to object.

"Yeah."

"So you won't mind if I eat with you."

Rory just sighed defeated. She walked outside, Tristan following closely behind her. They sat on one of the deserted benches, Tristan sitting opposite her. Accidentally his leg brushed against hers, but he barely noticed. Rory however jumped slightly, and then felt really stupid. Jeez, what was wrong with her? Why was Tristan affecting her like this?

Deciding she was going to do what she originally planned she took out her book and started reading it while she ate. Tristan smiled at this and decided he wouldn't disturb her. He took out a sandwich he had bought earlier and started eating it.

Rory was busy reading so he took the time to watch her. She couldn't blame him for looking at her when she was sitting right opposite him. 

Her face was so innocent; she hadn't been touched by any harsh realities of life. And he suddenly realized he wanted her to remain like that, and never lose that innocence. 

Her skin looked soft, and her lips were full and looked extremely kissable. Now that he knew how they felt, it was harder for him to not want to kiss her. He was controlling the urge every time he spoke to her. Her hair looked so soft that he wanted to run his fingers through it for hours. 

Her uniform covered most of her body, but he knew what she hid underneath it. He had seen it at the dance when she had worn a dress that showed off the curves of her body, while being completely modest. He wanted to take her in his arms and feel her against him. 

"Who do you still like then?" Rory asked suddenly, pulling him out of his thoughts.

She couldn't concentrate on her reading. Especially when she could feel him inspecting every inch of her skin. Dean had watched her before, and it had always made her blush a little. But Tristan's look was completely different. It was electric and sexual and she didn't even want to think about the thoughts that were running through his mind.

"What?" Tristan asked, confused.

"You said it wouldn't be fair to date Paris when you like someone else," she reminded him. "It's obviously not Summer because you've barely noticed her all week."

"You keeping and eye out on who I notice now?" he teased.

"No!" she protested, a little too quickly.

"What difference does it make, anyway? This girl is unattainable."

"That's never stopped you before," she pointed out. 

She was sure it wasn't her now. Tristan wouldn't be talking to her about the girl if it was really her, right? It didn't matter that he had just been looking at her like she was something he could eat; he did that with all the girls. And they were friends. That's all.

"Well this one's different."

"Why?" Rory asked.

"Because I like her," he admitted. 

It was somehow easier to tell her this, when he knew he could just pretend it's someone else later on. He knew he was being a chicken, but he knew that if he admitted he liked her more than as a friend, she would go running. They were barely even friends, and he knew she would think he was just playing with her. 

"You must have liked all the other girls you've dated," she said, because she didn't understand why anyone would date someone they didn't like.

"Well, yeah. But not really."

"So, you really are just a love 'em and leave 'em type."

"Hey! Some of them leave me," he protested, thinking of the embarrassment that was Summer. "And it's not like they mind. Everyone wants some of Tristan," he said with a cocky grin.

"God, you just reminded me why I hate you."

"You don't hate me, Mary."

"Don't be so sure."

They lapsed into silence again as Rory pondered his words. She wondered how one ended up like Tristan. Thinking it was okay to treat people that way. But also to never have really liked someone. She liked Dean. She hadn't loved him, but he was her first boyfriend and her first kiss and she had felt those new exciting sensations when they started dating. It was sad that Tristan had dated a lot more than her and never felt that way.

"Maybe if you tell this girl you like her, she'll give you a chance," she said, not knowing why she suddenly wanted Tristan to be happy.

Maybe because she had seen glimpses of the real Tristan. The one that hid behind the cocky smirk and good looks. 

"I don't think so."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"She's not interested," he assured her.

"Maybe if you showed her the real Tristan."

"As opposed to the fake one that I am all the time?" he said sarcastically.

"You know what I mean."

"No, actually I don't."

She sighed, trying to explain. "Right now, you're being real. You're talking to me and we're having an okay conversation. When I first met you, I couldn't stand you. You thought because you're so damn hot I should want to talk to you and that's just annoying."

"Yeah, well, its….Wait, you think I'm hot?" 

Tristan grinned and Rory rolled her eyes. "You're not listening to me!"

"I am. I distinctly heard you say you think I'm hot."

"I do not think you're hot, Tristan." Rory said through gritted teeth.

"Rory, it's okay. Many women suffer the same problem."

The bell rang and Rory started gathering her things. She picked up her book and whacked him over the head lightly, before putting it away. "You're hopeless."

"Yeah, probably."

******

The day was almost over, and Rory couldn't be happier. Between the classes they shared and lunch, she had spent most of the day with Tristan. She just hadn't been able to shake him today. And she was looking forward to going back to Stars Hollow and leaving his piercing blue eyes in Hartford for the whole weekend. 

But her day was not over yet, she realized as she watched her bus drive off just as she came outside. It was early and there wouldn't be another one for half an hour.

"Hey Ror, you want a lift?" His voice tickled the skin of her neck as he came up behind her, walking towards his car.

"No!" she answered automatically, before softening. "I mean, no, its okay."

"Seriously, those buses take forever to come. Let me give you a lift."

"It's out of the way, Tristan," she tried to protest. He was so annoying leaning against his car with that casual smile on his face, being all nice to her. How was she supposed to resist this when he was doing his best to be her friend?

"So?"

She wanted to protest again. She didn't want to take him back to her world. That would make him real. But the bus wasn't going to come and she didn't want to wait.

"Fine, thanks."

She followed him over to his flashy car and got in. He got into the drivers seat and started the car, without a word. It felt weird not saying something, but for once Rory didn't know what to say. 

She was feeling nervous around him and she didn't understand why. Tristan hadn't made her nervous since her first days at Chilton, and that was only because she hadn't figured him out yet. But then she realized he was just a stuck up annoying idiot and all was right in the world. Now she didn't know what to think of him again. 

It was just like him to completely throw her world upside down by suddenly being nice. She had gotten used to the Tristan that called her "Mary" and acted like god's gift to women. This Tristan she wasn't used to. The one who got upset about a girl, the one who talked to her about her break up, the one who kissed her. It didn't make sense.

Tristan wasn't talking to her and she, not having anything else to do, was drawn to his hands on the steering wheel. He had really nice hands. They looked really soft, but still strong. God, what was she thinking? She was losing her mind. 

After ten minutes of silence Rory couldn't take it anymore.

"God, say something already."

"What?" Tristan said jumping out of his thoughts.

"Why are you being so quiet?"

"I don't know," he lied. 

The truth was, if he started talking to her, it would turn into sparing, and she would get all aggressive about her point and he'd just want to pull over and kiss her breath away. And obviously that wasn't a good plan. So he was focusing on his driving.

"Well, talk about something, you're freaking me out."

"Okay…" He tried to think of something to say, but couldn't think of anything. "Why are you so jumpy? Worried that if we don't talk you'll be overcome by the urge to jump me?"

"No!" Rory said, but she felt a blush creep up her cheeks. Why did he always rile her up?

Noticing her blush, he was quite surprised. "Oh my God, I was right. You were thinking about me."

"Whatever you want to believe," she said flippantly. Realizing she preferred it when they weren't talking she got out her book from her bag and started reading it, clearing telling Tristan that she was not going to talk to him.

He thought it was cute how flustered she got. He was sure her relationship with Dean was all hearts and flowers with little kisses. If he ever had a chance to be with her it would be pure passion and lust and love. He wouldn't know how to keep his hands to himself. He wouldn't know how to stop thinking about her all the time. 

"Why do you do that?" Tristan asked after a couple of minutes.

She wanted to ignore him, but curiosity got the best of her. "Do what?" 

"Start reading every time a conversation gets too difficult." 

"I don't," Rory said.

"You did it just now."

"Well you were annoying me. Once does not make it always. Always implies this is something I am known for, something I do all the time. First of all I don't see you enough for you to know any of my always' and secondly I don't always do that so it's not one," she finished and then realized from the amused look on Tristan's face, that he was laughing at her. "Don't laugh at me," she told him, although she was suddenly smiling herself.

"I can't help it," Tristan said. "You're just so cute."

"Like a puppy?" she argued. "Gee thanks."

"Not like a puppy," he told her, suddenly serious. "Just cute."

She hated that word usually. What the hell did cute mean? But the way he said it, it made her smile. Why was he doing that to her so much lately? It just wasn't right. 

******

When they pulled up outside her house, Rory wanted nothing more than to run outside and forget all the crazy thoughts she had been having about Tristan today.

"Thanks for the lift. I'll see you on Monday," she said quickly, practically running out of the car and into her house. 

Tristan was a little amused. Rory had definitely not been acting herself today, especially since she had completely forgotten to pick up her school bag when she ran out of the car. If he didn't know any better, he'd think she was nervous to be around him.

He smiled when he noticed Rory come back out of her house and make her way more calmly over to his car. She felt really stupid, forgetting her bag of all things, but being around him was making her feel weird, and she didn't want anyone, especially her mother, to see Tristan and assume things.

"Sorry," she said as she reached the car.

"Don't apologize to me. I just feel bad for your poor bag. Obviously you have very little regard for it."

"Yeah, I'm sure it's upset, since it has feelings." Tristan grinned as she picked up her bag and closed the door again. "Thanks for the lift," she said.

"No problem."

She started to walk away, heading into her house. Tristan quickly opened his car door and stood up.

"Rory!"

She stopped and turned around, confused. 

"It's okay, you know. Thinking about me. It just means you're human," he joked.

She laughed, actually feeling comforted by the return of his cockiness. "Tristan," she called back.

"Yeah?"

"Go home!"

He laughed as he got back in his car and drove home.

******


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

"Hello?" Rory answered the phone when she managed to find it. It was Saturday night and she was studying while her Mom went to Luke's to get them some food.

"Hey, Mary."

"Tristan?" she said, staring at the phone is surprise. Why the hell was he calling her?

"Who else calls you Mary?" he asked, amused.

"No one. Thank God. How did you get my number?"

"It's listed," he told her, as if it was obvious that he would search for her number.

"Okay, rephrase, _why_ did you get my number?"

"Because my day wouldn't be complete without annoying you," he said, smirking.

"Gee, thank you for going to all that trouble for me. Bye."

"Wait!" Tristan said quickly.

"What?" she said, pretending to be really bored with the conversation. Although deep down she knew she had had a lot of fun hanging out with him in school on Friday.

"Well, I thought we could, you know, talk. It's what people do right."

"People? Yes. We? No."

"Why is it weird for you to talk to me?" Tristan asked.

"It's not."

"Liar."

"Fine it is," she admitted. "Probably because I hated you until a week ago."

"You never hated me. You wanted me. There's a difference."

"Yeah, sure, Tristan. I was so crazy with want."

"And now the truth comes out."

"Was there something you wanted?"

"I'm bored."

"So, you chose to call me?"

"Well, yeah. You're the one who said I should swear off girls."

"No, you said you would and I laughed at you," she reminded him. "Then I suggested you just swear off  a certain kind of girl." 

"And that's what I'm doing. You're not like most girls. You're a girl with substance. A girl who is smart, driven and what else was it you said? Has ambition?"

"Tristan!" When she said that to him earlier, she hadn't meant herself. "I didn't mean me!"

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because…"

"Well, you're not with Dean, right?"

"No," she agreed, although it still felt weird to her. "But I can't date you."

"Again, why not?" 

He wasn't sure if he was asking seriously, or still teasing, but he wanted to see how far she would let this conversation go until she shut him down. He really wanted to know what was so wrong with the idea of the two of them together. 

"You're the one who told me find a girl who's smart, driven and ambitious, and when I do, you shoot me down? How will my poor heart handle it?" he added, returning to his usual tone of voice. 

She rolled her eyes. Why was Tristan never serious? 

"You'll survive. And I meant Paris," she told him, and then remembered his reason for not dating Paris. "Anyway what about the other girl you like?"

Damn. Tristan forgot about that. "Yeah, you're right. I guess I can't date you either. But we can still hang out, right?"

"Sure," she answered offhandedly.

"Good. I'm coming over now."

"What Tristan…" she started to protest, but he had already hung up.

Rory stared at the phone for a minute, wondering if she had even heard right. She wanted to call him back and make sure he definitely was not coming over, but she didn't know his number and she would not look it up. 

She was sure he was only kidding anyway. At least she hoped he was.

******

He wasn't kidding. 

After waiting over forty minutes for him to show up, and wondering if she even wanted him to, Rory convinced herself that she was being stupid to expect him, and had changed into her pajamas to make a point about really believing he wasn't coming. And just as she finished changing the doorbell rang.

"Don't get that!" Rory said, running out of her room just as Lorelai reached the door.

Lorelai looked at her daughter, confused. "Why not? One tends to answer the door when someone knocks, honey. It's the law of the universe."

"Not when Tristan is on the other side of the door!" she hissed.

"Tristan? Bible boy? The Evil One?"

"Yes, yes and yes."

"What's he doing here?" Lorelai asked, somewhat amused. "At ten thirty at night?"

"I don't know." 

Lorelai started to answer the door again, but Rory wouldn't let her. "What part of don't get that, didn't you understand?"

"You can't just leave him outside, Rory. Even if he is evil. And if he is so evil, why is he here?"

"Because he's stupid. I definitely did not tell him he could hang out with me tonight."

Lorelai raised her eyebrows at her very irrational daughter, who just glared at her. "Fine. I'll just go upstairs and leave you to deal with the boy on our doorstep. It's not on my conscious if he gets pneumonia and needs to be taken to the hospital and dies calling your name."

Rory just rolled her eyes at her mother as she went upstairs.

Tristan knocked again and Rory sighed. Stupid Tristan, being all impulsive and just coming over like this. It was so like him to not appreciate boundaries.

She opened the door finally; knowing she couldn't really do anything about him now.

"Nice PJs," was Tristan's first comment as he looked her up and down.

Rory had almost forgotten that she had changed just before he arrived. Her hands quickly crossed over her chest, as if shielding herself from his view. But it only made him smirk. She was wearing a small tank top with her pajama bottoms and suddenly felt very exposed under his watchful eye.

"What are you doing here?"

"You invited me over? And it's not very nice to leave your guest standing on the doorstep for ten minutes while you fight with your mother about how evil I am."

"One, I did not invite you, you invited yourself. Two, you are not a guest in this house, because you are not coming into this house. And three, how the hell did you hear me?"

Tristan just laughed. "The walls are very thin. Now are you letting me in, or what?"

"No!"

"Rory…" he started to complain.

"Tristan, go home. It's late," she said, trying to stand her ground.

If she let Tristan into her house, he'd stay. And then they would spend more time together. And then she'd start liking things about him that used to bug her and that just wasn't right. 

"But I'm bored."

"So, go bug someone else."

"No one gets flustered around me like you do."

"I am not flustered!" Why did he always know what was going on in her mind? It was starting to bug her.

"So why do you still have your arms crossed?"

Rory instantly dropped her arms. "You are so infuriating."

"But that's why you like me."

"Now where would you get an idea like that?" she asked.

"As much as I love this playful banter we have going here, I'm kind of freezing and would much prefer to continue inside."

"It isn't playful," Rory told him, but relented and finally let him in. "You can't stay long."

Tristan walked inside and looked around, noting how different this house was to his own. In his house everything was perfect and untouched. The only things that let you know it was his house were the few large portraits of the family up in the main room. In Rory's house there were pictures everywhere, books lying around, and old magazines scattered on the table. 

"Does it pass inspection?" Rory teased, noticing Tristan look.

"Nice," he said offhandedly. 

He smiled as Rory glared at him. She was so cute when she got flustered around him. He thought he had stopped affecting her a long time ago. But in the last few days he'd noticed she was off in her own mind lately, and wasn't as quick with her retorts. Almost as if he didn't annoy her anymore. 

He turned and headed back for the door. "Okay, well I'll see you on Monday."

"What? You're just going to leave?" Rory asked, confused.

"Well, yeah. It is pretty late," he said, as if it should have been obvious to Rory that he would just come over for five minutes.

"But…"

"See I knew you wanted me to come over," he teased. "I, however, just wanted to see if you'd let me into your house."

Rory didn't know how to react to that. "You just drove half an hour to see whether I would let you in?" she asked incredulously. 

"Yeah," he answered simply.

"You're crazy, you know that right?" she said, smiling now.

"Yeah." 

And then, without warning, he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. His lips lingered for a few seconds before he pulled away and left without another word.

Rory just stood there in a daze, wondering what the hell had happened to her to make her whole world seem weird. Dean had broken up with her. And now Tristan was being unnaturally nice. And she could have sworn she felt something when he kissed her. His lips were so soft and suddenly she remembered the first time they had kissed. Properly. 

Why had she pulled away again? 

Okay thinking about Tristan like this definitely felt wrong and she was not going to allow it. So she turned around and headed straight to bed. But Tristan, being as annoying as he was, wouldn't even stay out of her dreams.

******

Monday morning came too quickly and Rory was still very worried about all her sudden impure thoughts about Tristan DuGrey of all people. The fact that he was actually being nice to her (he had asked her about her weekend, and didn't call her Mary even once) and was trying to be her friend was even more unnerving. She had gotten used to having no friends at Chilton. It was fine with her. 

The only person she had even started to be friends with was Paris, and she was still not talking to her. A fact that was actually Tristan's fault, but now that he was being semi-decent she couldn't even blame him too much. 

"Mary, were you daydreaming about me again? I swear that's the third time today," Tristan teased as they both left their third period English class.

Rory chose to ignore him, because unlike before, she had no defense, she had actually been daydreaming about him a little. Only a very little of course. "Tristan, we've had many discussions about that name."

"Sorry, Ror. It slipped," he apologized, but the grin on his face led Rory to believe he wasn't all that sorry. "Although if you let me, I could assist you in getting rid of that name once and for all." 

He looked her up and down suggestively and Rory wanted to be disgusted. She really did. But his eyes were just so captivating that she couldn't quite find what he said all that horrible. Embarrassing? Yes. Disgusting? Not so much.

"Are you thinking about it?" Tristan teased.

"The day I think about you like that is the day I give up my dream of Harvard to work at MacDonald's," she said back. Then she wondered if MacDonald's would be willing to hire her, since she'd already thought about him like that more then once.

"Ouch. You wound me. And I didn't think Stars Hollow had a MacDonald's."

"It doesn't. We have Luke's."

"What's Luke's?" Tristan asked as they started walking together.

"It's the local Diner. We eat pretty much all our meals there as well as get endless supplies of coffee, that Luke hates giving us, but feels he has to otherwise my mother will just talk his ear off."

"Yeah, the coffee thing, you get from your mother?"

"Yep."

"She sounds very…unique."

"Yeah, she is."

"So anyway, we have to work on this King and Queen thing sometime soon, right? Or Paris will kill us, and I don't think she's too happy with either of us as it is."

"Whose fault is that," Rory said, glaring at him.

"Yours," Tristan said instantly and she just hit him. "Hey! Aren't Queens supposed to love their husbands?"

"Not when their husband is you. You're very unlovable."

"There you go again with the insults. What is it with you?"

"Hmm. Maybe the fact that you made the first three months of my life here hell," she joked.

"It couldn't have been that bad," Tristan argued, although he was feeling a little bad.

Realizing the look on his face Rory relented. "No, it wasn't that bad. You're surprisingly easy to ignore."

Tristan just rolled him eyes as the warning bell for the next class, one they didn't have together, rang. "I'll see you at lunch," he told her.

"If you must," Rory said as she headed to class. 

Tristan watched her go, and then wondered exactly what he was doing. He didn't want to be just Rory's friend and he knew it. But he couldn't help thinking that maybe she was starting to feel something for him too. And he was going to make her realize it, if it was the last thing he did.

******

"Who was the insanely cute guy?" Lane demanded the second Tristan's car pulled away from Rory's house.

"Hi Rory, how you doing? How was school?" Rory said sarcastically.

"Who cares about school? Who's the boy?" Lane asked.

"Just Tristan."

"Just Tristan?" Lane repeated. "Tristan, Evil One, Tristan?" Rory nodded. "Why didn't you tell me that Satan's Spawn was that Hot? He's like majorly cute, Rory."

"It wasn't important. He was annoying."

"Was?"

"Not so much anymore," Rory said offhandedly, as if it didn't really matter.

She walked into her house, and Lane followed not done with her questioning. 

"Really?" Lane asked. "Since when?"

Rory was about to say "since he kissed me at Madeline's party" but then realized she had yet to tell her best friend about this. Now she wondered if bringing it up was such a good idea. Lane was sure to blow the whole thing out of proportion, especially since she thought Tristan was 'hot'. Come on, sure he was good looking, but he wasn't that hot. Right?

"What?" Lane interrupted her thoughts. "What are you hiding from me?"

"Nothing!" Rory protested, but she couldn't help blushing. Since when did she blush?

"You're totally hiding something from me. Me, your best friend!"

"I'm not. Really. Tristan's just become a bit more bearable lately."

"Yeah, but something must have happened to make him change."

"Fine. We kind of, sort of, mighthavekissedonce," Rory said so fast Lane was sure she misheard.

"WHAT!" she practically shouted. 

Rory really wished she hadn't opened her big mouth. But Lane would have made her spill eventually. What she should have done, was tell Lane as soon as it happened, when it really meant nothing. Not that it meant something now of course, she had to remind herself, but it maybe meant more now than it did then. God, her thoughts were giving her a headache.

"It was nothing," Rory added quickly. "I was upset over Dean. He was upset over some girl. It was an accident that ended in me running crying."

"Wow. Was it that bad?" Lane asked and Rory wanted to laugh.

"No. It was good. But it's what triggered my crying over Dean."

"Oh," Lane nodded in understanding. "How are you with that whole thing?" she asked, as if just remembering that it had only been a couple of weeks since their break up.

"Surprisingly okay this week," Rory answered honestly. She didn't want to admit it, but all her thinking about Tristan had kept her mind off Dean most of the time. "I still miss him though. I just wish it didn't have to be like this. I can't say I love him, Lane. And that's all he wants to hear."

"Boys are stupid that way."

"Yeah, well I wish he wasn't."

"You really don't love him then?" Lane asked. "You're not just scared about saying it."

"I'm not scared. I like him. And it hurts that he's not around. But love? That's just so huge. And I don't think I'm there yet. Maybe I could be, if I had more time with him. But he's not giving me that chance. I guess I just have to learn to live with that."

"And you're okay?"

"Yeah. It still sucks, but I have to move on sometime, right?"

"Yeah. And it doesn't hurt that you have Tristan around to help you forget about Dean," Lane teased, trying to lighten the mood.

"Lane!"

"What? You said it was a good kiss." Rory rolled her eyes, wondering why she even bothered. "How good?"

"I don't know. Normal. I don't have a lot of experience in that area, do I?"

"Well was it like Dean's kisses? Or better?"

"I don't know, Lane," Rory said, starting to feel uncomfortable. "It was different to Dean. More passion." She saw Lane's eyes widen and then quickly added, "Not that it was very long, and I didn't really feel anything at all."

"How could you not feel anything with someone that hot?"

"I had only just broken up with Dean," Rory reminded.

"So what about now? It was awfully nice of Tristan to drive you all the way home," she said, trying to get Rory to admit she felt something for Tristan. Lane was Rory's best friend for a reason. She could tell something was going on between Rory and Tristan even if Rory didn't want to admit it yet.

"He offered. There's nothing more too it."

"Hmm. It seems like someone's protesting a little too much."

"I am not."

"But…"

"Lane?"

"Yeah?"

"Go home!"

******

Tristan drove back from Stars Hollow with a smile on his face. He didn't know what it was about Rory that made him actually care about her so much, but whatever it was he liked it. If he had just figured out at the start of the year that Rory would notice him more if he actually had a civil conversation with her, he might have done this a long time ago.

But something held him back. Probably because he had become so used to seeing girls as trophies that it was weird that Rory didn't even care that he was paying her attention. At first it had been a little disconcerting, and he'd wanted to prove that he could get her to notice him. But that changed lately. 

Maybe it was that kiss, or maybe even before the kiss when she told him that Dean broke up with her. It gave him hope that maybe she could notice him; now that bag boy was out of the picture. 

Either way, he wasn't complaining. Especially when she called him up that night.

"Rory, what a pleasant surprise," he said.

"Yeah, I'm sure you're just as surprised as I was to find your number written all over my math notes. Didn't I tell you to return them in the same condition?"

"Yeah, so I made minor additions. You can still read the work. I'm sure my number won't cause any disruptions in your plan for world domination," Tristan teased.

"I still wasn't impressed," Rory told him. 

Although she knew it was a lie. When she found his number on her work, she had smiled, because it was so typical of him to do something like that. She knew he expected her to call him, but she didn't want to give in to him. Plus, she didn't know exactly what to say. But then the urge to hear his voice had won out. It was weird talking to Tristan when she was in her pajamas in her bed, about to go to sleep.

"So, what are you up to?" he asked ignoring her complaints.

"Sleeping."

Tristan laughed. "Most people don't do that while on the phone."

She rolled her eyes. "About to sleep."

"And you wanted my voice to be the last you heard? How sweet," he teased.

"No, you're just the last chore before bed."

"Whatever you want to believe," he said.

Rory wondered why every little thing was a joke, or a way to tease her with him. Sure, he was being nice, and not calling her Mary. But he was still annoying, still able to banter with her back and forth, still appearing cocky, without it being so obnoxious this time. 

"So, what are you wearing?"

And then he really was obnoxious. But it only made him more entertaining somehow.

"Goodnight Tristan."

"No really, I'm curious."

"Yeah, just curious. I'm sure."

"Why do you always find something sinister in my actions? Maybe it's just your mind that's polluted. I think this whole Rory Gilmore, Miss Innocent, is all an act."

"Yep. You got me. I'm really a bad bad girl."

"Ooh I love it when you talk dirty."

"Tristan!" He had to laugh at her mortified reaction. If anyone was least likely to talk dirty, it would be Rory.

"Kidding. Jeez. You're way too serious."

"Good night, Tristan."

He smiled. "Night Ror. Sweet dreams."

And then she hung up, wondering what that feeling in the pit of her stomach was, and why the hell Tristan DuGrey had to be the one to put it there.

******


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

Rory needed to have her head examined. She was going to go home and tell her mother to admit her into the mental institution because she was having the weirdest thoughts about Tristan. He was on the other side of the lunch hall talking to his friends, facing away from her, and suddenly she wished he would turn around and come and talk to her. 

She never cared if Tristan talked to her or not. She liked not having friends at school. She didn't care if Tristan was standing with his other friends. Right?

As if sensing her thoughts he turned and gave her a lazy smile. Rory jumped out of her thoughts and quickly put her head down, pretending to read as if she hadn't just been staring at him.

Tristan laughed at her behavior. He said a quick goodbye to his friends and headed over to Rory's table. 

"Hey Gilmore." He took a seat opposite her and grabbed an apple from her tray, taking a huge bite from it.

She glared at him. "I'm busy."

"Yeah, sure you are. Why do you keep fighting this? We're undeniable."

"Undeniably not going to happen," she shot back.

Tristan just laughed. "So, when are we going to work on that project? I'm free today."

"Uh…Well I guess we could do it today."

"We have to present by Friday so I think we should get it done," he said sensibly.

"Wow, I'm impressed. You actually care about something other than the girls you're always chasing."

"I gave up, remember? You're the only girl for me, Ror," he teased. "And I study. How do you think I got the fourth highest GPA in our class?"

"You have the fourth highest GPA?"

"No, I made that up," he said sarcastically. "Why do you find it hard to believe I'm not a complete idiot?"

Rory suddenly felt bad. It's not that she didn't think he was smart; you had to be to go to Chilton. But she also thought it was more to do with the fact that he is a DuGrey. 

"I don't think you're an idiot. I just didn't think you cared about school."

Tristan smiled and then felt weird. Was he having a normal teasing-free conversation with Rory Gilmore? That couldn't be right.

"So, can I come over after school? You can show me that town of yours while you're at it."

"Fine, if you must. But you're going to have to spend more than five minutes there this time, you do realize that?"

"I think I can handle it."

"But you'll be meeting my mother."

"Still not worried."

"Famous last words."

******

Tristan and Rory pulled up outside her house after school. Tristan was about to head towards the house when Rory pulled him in the other direction.

"We need reinforcements," she told him as they headed to Luke's.

They went inside and Luke smiled when he spotted her. "Hey Rory," he said to her before turning his critical eye on Tristan. "Who are you?" he asked, giving him a dirty look.

Rory cut in. "Uh this is Tristan, from Chilton. We have to work on a project together."

"Right," Luke nodded, although he shot Tristan another suspicious look as he went to give out an order.

"Friendly people," Tristan muttered to Rory.

She just smiled. "He's just a little protective. He wrestled Dean in the street when he found out we broke up."

Tristan suddenly grinned. "I think I like this guy."

Rory elbowed him. "Behave."

"What? I'm behaving," he said, trying to keep his look sincere. "Any man who can beat up the bag boy is okay with me."

Rory just rolled her eyes at him. She would never understand his complete dislike of Dean.  

"Can I get two coffees to go?" she asked Luke as he came back around the counter. 

Luke mumbled something about stunting growth, but started pouring. 

They got the coffees and left Luke's. On the way home Rory started pointing out different things around town to Tristan, with an accompanying story from her childhood. He was completely enraptured by her life. It was so different from his own. It sounded like Rory had a great childhood despite not having the creature comforts he was so used to.

And if the memories she was telling him about weren't enough, they also ended up bumping into Miss Patty which had been rather funny. By the time they reached Rory's house Tristan had quite an impression of the place.

"Interesting town," he commented as they walked into the house.

"You should be here when we have town meetings."

"You have town meetings?" he asked, sure she was kidding. 

"Yeah. They're quite amusing. We discuss all kinds of important issues," she joked.

"Sounds great."

Rory put her bag and the coffee down on the table. "We can work in here," she said motioning to the living room. 

She cleared away any extra things that were lying on the table and Tristan started to take out his books. 

"You set up and I'll be back in a minute," she told him.

She left Tristan in the living room and went into her room. He shrugged out of his jacket and loosened his shirt button, trying to relax. 

He took out the books he needed for the project and then realized he was missing one. He got up and walked towards Rory's bedroom and straight in without even thinking about it.

"Rory have you got…"

He stood frozen for a second, the door wide open, Rory standing there with nothing but a pair of jeans and a light blue faded bra covering her. 

"Tristan!" 

Snapping out of his mental pause he quickly shut the door.

 Rory half naked. Rory in a bra. 

He couldn't get the image of it out of his head. In that spilt second he had memorized every inch of her skin. 

Her jeans were slung low on her hips, the perfect white skin of her flat stomach exposed to his eyes. 

God, he wanted her. And she had looked ready to kill him. 

Why hadn't she told him she was changing? Why didn't he just knock? Stupid Tristan, think first, act later. 

Not that he was all that sorry that he saw her. It was an accident after all. But she would be beyond embarrassed and would probably kick him out now.

Rory was contemplating it. She stood in shock for almost a whole minute after he had closed the door. What the hell had he been thinking barging into her room like that? And then he had looked at her like that, the look she often saw him give her, but it was so intense that time. 

It was only for a split second, but she had noticed him take note of her body as she stood there in front of him. She had barely even let Dean put his hand under her top let alone see her half naked, and now Tristan had done it, without even meaning to. 

Knowing him he probably planned the whole thing. Stupid impulsive guy that he was. 

Knowing she couldn't hide forever she snapped herself out of her thoughts and pulled on a t shirt, before returning to the living room. She was however doing her best not to look at him. 

"Listen, Rory I'm really sor…"

"Uh…what did you want?" she asked quickly, obviously not listening to him.

"When?" Tristan asked, confused at her random question.

"Before, you know, when you…"

"Walked in on you half naked?" he finished for her, grinning from ear to ear. He couldn't help it; she was just so easy to tease. And she had looked really mortified; it was only natural that he teased her about it, that's how their relationship worked. 

"Ever heard of knocking?"

"Ever heard of a lock?"

"It's broken."

"My lucky day."

Rory glared at him. "Let's just get to work."

"Fine by me," Tristan agreed knowing when not to push it.

They sat together in silence for a couple of minutes. Rory was obviously not talking to him, but he could see her glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. She was trying to act cool like it didn't bother her, but he knew it really did.

"You know, I didn't really see much," he mentioned, trying to get a rise out of her.

"Good."

"Just a little glimpse of blue…"

Rory looked mortified. "I can't believe you."

"Hey, it's not my fault your lock's broken."

"It's your fault you went wandering around my house without permission."

"I needed to ask you something," he protested.

"What?"

"Oh yeah, do you have that text book Medina gave us last week. I don't have mine."

She picked up the textbook in question and passed it to him. Their hands touched briefly and Rory felt a weird sensation. She wanted to snatch her hand back, but she knew he was watching her, and she didn't want him to know how much he was affecting her.

It was going to be one long afternoon.

******

"So, why did Dean break up with you?" Tristan asked. 

They had been studying for a couple of hours and had been getting along really well once they stopped talking about the color of Rory's bra. They actually made a great study team, despite her insistence that studying was a solitary activity. 

Rory turned to him, expecting there to be a smirk on his face or something. But he just looked curious. Kind of like the night they had kissed. 

"He told me he loved me," she told him truthfully.

"And then he dumped you? That makes so much sense."

"I…uh…couldn't say it back."

"So?" 

Rory just shrugged, but Tristan understood. 

Dean expected all or nothing. If she didn't love him, that was it. What kind of logic was that? Rory was sixteen and she wasn't the type of girl to go around telling people she loved them unless she really meant it. If Dean had really loved her, he would have stayed with her.

"Moron," Tristan mumbled.

"You don't know him," Rory defended. "Why do you hate him so much?"

"Because he's an idiot, Rory. You deserve so much better than him."

"Yeah, right," she scoffed.

"It's true."

Tristan was watching her so intently; she didn't know what to think. But she couldn't stop looking at him either. They seemed stuck in that intense gaze, not able to look away from each other. Rory noticed that when Tristan wasn't putting on an act his eyes were really soft and inviting. She could get lost just looking into them. 

Why was there always this intense pull between them? Maybe that was why they were always bantering, because when they stopped everything else around them seemed to fade away. 

She didn't know if it was her or Tristan that was moving closer, but there seemed to be only inches between them. He was watching her carefully, his eyes drawn to her lips. He moved closer still and was just about to do something stupid when…

"Rory, I'm home!" Lorelai called out as she opened the front door.

Tristan and Rory both jumped away from each other, putting as much distance between themselves as possible. 

"Hey Rory…and boy I don't recognize," Lorelai greeted, stopping suddenly when she noticed Tristan.

His manners immediately kicked in and Tristan stood up. "Tristan DuGrey, ma'am." He held out his hand and Lorelai just laughed while shooting Rory an amused look.

"Ma'am? Boy, do I look old enough to be called ma'am? It's Lorelai."

Lorelai was quite intrigued. First Tristan turned up at their house the other night and now he was inside her house looking quite…she was going to say comfortable, but from the tension in the room she would think the more appropriate word was uncomfortable. But there was definitely something going on that Rory wasn't telling her.

"We were just working on a project for school," Rory clarified quickly before her mother got any other ideas.

"Well don't let me stop you," Lorelai said, but Rory was already standing up.

"Actually Tristan was just leaving."

"I was?"

"Yeah, we're finished for today."

Tristan took that as his cue to start gathering his things together. Lorelai watched in amusement, while Rory glared at her as she and Tristan headed for the door. 

"So, I'll see you tomorrow." Tristan said as he walked out of the house.

"I guess it can't be avoided," Rory teased, trying to bring some humor back into their conversations.

"Later Gilmore."

Rory stood and watched him until he got in the car and pulled away and then she sighed loudly. Tristan was surprising her every day. She never thought she and Tristan would become friends, yet she had been enjoying his company an awful lot lately. 

Maybe a little too much.

******

"You almost kissed again? Rory, there is definitely something going on here," Lane said excitedly. Although she had only seen Tristan once she had taken an instant liking to him.

"Nothing is going on. And we didn't almost kiss. We just had a moment."

Rory was sitting in her room on the phone to Lane. Tristan had left a little while ago and Rory had avoided her Mother's questioning looks.

"A moment in which you would have kissed if your mother hadn't interrupted," Lane clarified.

"Tristan and I are barely friends, let alone more. I'm not ready to date anyone else, least of all Tristan DuGrey."

"Why are you so hard on him?"

"Uh, hello? Were you not listening all those times I complained about him?" Rory asked her friend. It was unnerving that Lane had suddenly become Tristan's biggest supporter.

"Yeah, but it's obvious it was because he likes you."

"He doesn't. He likes some other girl. It was just Tristan being Tristan. He can't seem to control himself around girls," Rory explained, trying to convince herself more than Lane.

"So, who's this other girl he likes?"

"I don't know. He wouldn't tell me."

"Hmm."

"What?" Rory asked, knowing from Lane's tone that she had a theory.

"Well did it ever cross your mind that the girl is you?"

"No!" Rory lied. "Look, it's always been a game with him. He's been trying to get me to go out with him since I started school because I'm the only girl who doesn't give him the time of day. It's just a game. That is not liking someone."

"Doesn't seem like he's playing a game lately though, does it?"

"Well…no. But we're just becoming friends. I don't want to ruin that. He's actually not that bad."

"Right. Not that bad. That's all you think of him?"

"Yes. Even if he does like me, which he doesn't. I don't like him. I can't date him. And we're not discussing this anymore."

Lane laughed. "Fine. No more Tristan talk. I've got to go anyway. Ma is on the warpath again."

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye."

Rory hung up the phone and lay back on her bed. Today had been beyond weird. First Tristan had seen her half naked, which was so beyond embarrassing she didn't even want to think about it. And then they had almost kissed again. Why were crazy things always happening when he was around?

Rory decided that she and Tristan were sort of friends now and she wasn't going to let any of these weird occurrences ruin that. She did like him and she'd started to enjoy having him around. So she was going to let Tristan be her friend and stop thinking crazy thoughts about him. 

If only it were that easy.

******

The next day Tristan was with his friends when Rory walked into school. As soon as he spotted her he walked through the crowds to get to her.

"Hey, Rory. Wait up," he called.

Rory stopped and smiled at him. "Hey Tristan."

"Hey, listen, we're cool right? About yesterday…"

"We're fine," Rory cut him off quickly. 

"Great." Tristan smiled. "So, you want to do it again today?" 

She was taken aback by his question and felt herself blushing instead of being annoyed. Tristan couldn't contain his smirk. 

"I meant study," he clarified, and Rory relaxed. "We haven't finished the project remember?"

"I knew you meant study," she lied feeling really stupid for jumping to conclusions. "You can come over again if you want." 

"Sure. I'll see you later."

She watched him leave and tried to calm her flushed cheeks. Why did he have the ability to rile her up so much? It hadn't used to bother her when he teased her before. He used to annoy the hell out of her, but she never really gave him a second thought.

It was completely different now that they were actually friends. She couldn't just forget about him when he wasn't around. He had the ability to get under her skin so well. 

The rest of the morning passed her by uneventfully. She didn't have any classes with Tristan and she was grateful because it gave her a chance to get her thoughts about him back into the realm of normal by the time she saw him again. 

That was at lunch, when Tristan had followed her outside to eat, using the opportunity to tease her mercilessly.

"You know the blue really suits you. But it's kind of plain. Maybe you should take a trip to Victoria's Secret," he suggested, eyeing her up. "I could come if you want."

"In your dreams, Moron."

"Every night, didn't I tell you?" Rory rolled her eyes, but that didn't stop him. "Maybe some red, now that would look really hot."

"Tristan, I am not having this conversation with you," she said, slowly, making it very clear that she was getting pissed.

"But you looked so shocked, it was funny."

"It was not funny." She threw an empty wrapper at him and he just laughed. He liked it when they were relaxed together, and despite Rory's embarrassment he could tell she was smiling.

"Come on, Ror. You know I've pictured you naked a million times before," he admitted, only half joking.

Rory hid her face in her book. "Tristan!"

He laughed. "Okay, I'm sorry. What do you want to talk about?"

"Anything but me."

"But I like talking about you."

"Why?" Rory asked.

"You fascinate me," he answered truthfully. 

Rory smiled at him, knowing he was being sincere. "I'm not that interesting," she told him. "I would think with your enormous ego you'd talk about yourself all the time, but you never do."

"I talk about myself," he argued.

"No, you don't. I don't really know anything about you," she realized for the first time. Ever since she had started hanging out with him she had realized that there was more to him then meets the eye. But she didn't really _know _anything real about him. 

"What do you want to know?" he asked. 

She was right; he didn't really talk about himself. Partly because he was actually fascinated by Rory and he loved learning new things about her, but also because he'd never felt comfortable sharing himself with another person. He was so used to hiding his true self and playing the role society had placed him in. 

"Anything you feel comfortable telling me."

"My favorite color's blue."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Not something like that. Something about yourself." The bell rang and she started to gather her things. 

"I'll get back to you on that," Tristan promised.

"Okay. See you in English?"

"Sure."

******

"I spend every second Sunday with my grandfather," Tristan said out of the blue. They were studying at Rory's house again. And this time there had been no distractions. They had been getting along really great.

"What?"

"Something you didn't know about me. I spend a lot of time with my grandfather. And not because I'm forced to. He's a really great guy. He's been kind of sick lately so I try and spend as much time with him as I can."

Rory seemed surprised, not about his grandfather, but at the fact that he was sharing something about his life with her. For some reason she hadn't expected him to do it. He was so used to playing the role of "King of Chilton" that he rarely showed his real self. And the fact that he was doing it with her made her feel really good for some reason.

"What about your parents?" she asked.

"We don't really get along," he said, not elaborating. 

Rory sensed that he wasn't ready to talk about that so she quickly changed the subject. 

"I hope Paris doesn't make us dress up for this whole King and Queen thing," she said.

"Knowing her, she probably will. Paris doesn't do anything by halves."

"Yeah. She's…uh...intense. But she can be okay when she wants to be. Are you sure you couldn't give it a try with her. Who knows, she may get your mind off this other girl?"

"I don't think so. Paris is great, but I've known her since I was nine. I just can't think of her that way."

"Fair enough."

"What about you?"

"Oh, I don't think Paris is my type," Rory joked. 

Tristan laughed. "I meant is there anyone you want to be with now?" He didn't know why he was asking this question really. He didn't want to know if Rory was interested in some other guy. He was enjoying the fact that she wasn't with Dean.

"No," Rory answered although she sort of felt like she was lying. But she dismissed all the weird feelings she'd been having for Tristan lately as nothing. "I only just broke up with Dean a few weeks ago. I don't think I'm ready to move on."

"You never know Gilmore; the perfect guy could be right in front of you if you just took notice of him."

Their eyes locked and Rory felt like he was trying to tell her something. But he wasn't, right? They were just friends. Yet she knew Tristan was the one sitting right in front of her, but she was too scared to notice.

"I…uh…we should really finish this."

And the moment was broken again. 

For now.

******


	4. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

Rory was sitting on the couch idly flicking through channels on the TV when Lorelai came and sat next to her sighing loudly to get her daughter's attention.

"Boy, have I had a long day," she exclaimed. "Major emergencies at the Inn and on top of that Michel refused to take a booking because he claimed the person on the phone was rude."

Rory laughed. 

"What ya watching?" Lorelai asked.

"Nothing."

"Why aren't you out? You're young and hip. You should be out."

"Lane's Mom set her up on another date. I'm waiting for the distress call," Rory explained. "Besides I have a ton of work I should be doing."

"And instead you're sitting here watching T.V?" Lorelai reached over to check Rory's temperature. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

"I think Tristan's rubbing off on me. Damn him and his relaxed attitude."

"I knew that boy was a bad influence."

"No, what you said is 'That boy is hot, you should keep him around,'" Rory reminded her.

"And I'm so proud of you, you actually took my advice." 

"I did not!"

"You've been spending an awful lot of time with him lately," Lorelai pointed out.

"We had a project to do."

"That finished over a week ago."

They had worked solidly that week so that Paris would have nothing to complain about and they made a great team. They had received an A grade and Rory had been so relieved. But even after the project had finished they had continued to spend time together. Rory had actually grown to like spending time with him, as weird as it was.

"We're friends," she said simply.

"Who would have thunk it, huh?"

"Yeah, it is a bit weird. But good, I guess."

"What about the other boy in your life?"

"Dean isn't in my life anymore," Rory said. "I never thought you could avoid someone in a town this small, but he's managed it."

"You miss him, huh?"

"You know, I thought I would. And I did at first, but it's just gotten easier. Does that make me a bad person? I couldn't tell him I loved him, and now that he's not around I'm not missing him like crazy?"

"No, that doesn't make you a bad person, Rory. Dean was a good guy, and you liked him. But it doesn't have to mean the world. You can't help the way your heart works." 

"But what if…"

"You know, just because you didn't love him, doesn't mean you didn't care about him. He'll always be special to you. But when you fall in love, you'll know."

******

Rory thought about what Lorelai said later. After Dean broke up with her she felt a bit guilty that she couldn't just say "I love you" to him. All he wanted was to hear three words and she couldn't do that. But then she knew she couldn't lie either. It wouldn't be right. And then she had adjusted to life without him again. She thought it was the end of the world when he broke up with her, but it didn't feel like that anymore. 

"What were you thinking about?" Tristan asked Rory as the bell for their last class went.

"Nothing," she lied. She did not want to share her thoughts with Tristan of all people.

"You were. You were making a face."

"I do not make faces when I worry," Rory argued. She gathered her things and headed for her locker while Tristan followed.

"So, you were worrying about something?"

"No!"

Tristan laughed. "Fine, keep it from me. I'll wear you down eventually."

"Because you have great powers of persuasion," Rory said sarcastically.

"I got you to be friends with me, didn't I?" Tristan grinned.

"Yeah, I'm still not sure about that one. I think I need my head examined."

"Ouch," Tristan rubbed his hand over his heart as if he was really injured by her words.

"You'll live."

"Anyway, you want a lift home?" Tristan asked as they headed outside. "I have to meet my grandfather in Stars Hollow anyway. He's doing some work there."

"You sure?" She was never one to turn down a free ride, but she felt bad accepting lifts from him.

"Yeah. I just want to go home and change first," he told her. 

They headed outside together and got into Tristan's stylish car. Rory felt the tension of the long week leaving her body as she relaxed in his leather seats. It was weird how comfortable she was in his presence these days. Even when she had gotten used to his teasing, being around him used to unnerve her, but ever since they became friends she realized how easy he was to talk to. 

The DuGrey mansion was only a five minute drive from Chilton, but Rory had never been there before. The house was big and furnished with the most extravagant and beautiful pieces. It looked more like a show room than a house. It reminded Rory of her grandparent's house, but somehow less friendly and welcoming.

Tristan led Rory through the house and up the grand staircase towards his room. When he opened the door to his room, Rory was surprised at what she saw. 

The room was like a typical boy's room and the furnishings matched Tristan's personality perfectly. However it was very unlike the rest of the house. Books were cluttering his tables. Clothes were left around the place and his bed was unmade.

"I don't let anyone touch my room," he told her, noticing her look. "I like it like this."

"It's very you," she agreed.

Tristan smiled. "Thanks."

"That wasn't a compliment," Rory teased.

It felt weird standing in Tristan's room, with all his things surrounding her. This was his space and it felt weird that she was in it. Even though she had been spending a lot of time with Tristan at her house she had never let him in her room. 

Tristan opened his closet and got out some clothes before heading to his attached bathroom to change.

Rory took the opportunity to look around closely. She didn't want to think about Tristan changing in the next room. She had made herself stop thinking about Tristan like that lately and she didn't need to go there again. She liked spending time with him without feeling flustered. She liked just being his friend.

"Done inspecting the place?" Rory jumped as Tristan came up behind her. 

"You scared me!"

"Sorry," he said, but he was grinning. 

Rory turned and tried to hit him playfully, but he grabbed her wrist to stop her. She was going to say something else, but when she looked up at him he had a serious expression on his face. His eyes didn't have that playful glint in them anymore. The tension seemed to crackle in the air between them, and Rory felt helpless against what was going to happen next.

She couldn't stop herself from seeking out his lips, just as he couldn't help leaning forward to kiss her. It wasn't clear who kissed who first, just that they were kissing like it was as necessary as breathing. This was nothing like their first kiss. This was crazy and electric and they weren't thinking about anything other than each other.

His lips were soft, his tongue demanding, and Rory felt herself responding to his eagerness. His arms came around her waist, pulling her body against him as he kissed her deeply. Rory wasn't thinking about anything as she kissed him back. All rational thought flew out of her mind. Tristan was kissing her and it felt good. Really good. She really didn't want to stop.

"Rory…" he mumbled, in between kisses.

She didn't want to stop, but hearing him say her name bought Rory crashing back to reality. What the hell was she doing?

"Tristan!" She pushed away from him gently. 

"What? Did I do something…?"

"No! No. I just…We can't…" She trailed off, not even knowing what she was thinking. 

Tristan got the idea though. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. One minute Rory was kissing him eagerly, as if she really wanted this, and the next moment she was shutting him down again.

"I'm sorry," Rory said.

"Don't be," he said, trying to smile at her.

He didn't understand all these mixed signals between them. He wanted her so badly but he knew she wasn't ready. But if she wasn't ready, why had she kissed him back?

He turned away from her, going through his closet, looking for a jacket to wear, but really he was just trying to catch his breath before he faced her again.

"Tristan…" She felt the tension between them, but she didn't know what to say to make it better. She was so confused. Tristan was her friend, sort of; she didn't want to ruin that.

"Let's go," he said, closing the closet and heading for the door without looking at her. "I better drop you home."

Rory nodded, not saying anything else. It was obvious Tristan did not want to talk about it now, and Rory was actually grateful because she didn't know what to think. 

They got in the car and drove all the way to Stars Hollow in pretty much silence. Even the normal conversation that usually flowed between them wasn't there. 

"See you on Monday," Rory said as they reached her house. 

Tristan just nodded so she got out of the car quickly. He didn't wait for her to go inside before he drove off. 

He didn't really know what to say to her. He hated getting frustrated with her just because he couldn't keep his hormones in check. But god, he wanted her so badly. Every time he was near her he wanted to kiss her, and touch her and do a lot more. 

But they were friends. And it seemed Rory wanted to keep it that way.

He had to keep reminding himself because it was getting harder not to kiss her every time he was near her. When they had started spending time together he didn't think he would be able to be just friends with her, but it had actually been easy.

That was until she looked at him like that. Like he was more than just a friend. When she looked at him like that he couldn't not kiss her. 

But that was twice she had freaked after kissing him. He really needed to get the message already. Why was he such a glutton for punishment?

******

****

Rory didn't tell Lane or her mother what had happened between herself and Tristan on Friday. In fact she was doing her best to forget it had happened. It had just been a lapse in judgment, right? A mistake.

Why was it becoming a habit, kissing Tristan and then forgetting about it? Although this time it had been more than just a quick kiss. This time she couldn't forget about the way Tristan's lips felt against hers. She couldn't forget the way she responded to his touch. She couldn't forget how much she wanted him. 

She couldn't stop thinking about him all weekend. Not speaking to him for two whole days suddenly became strange to her and she was overcome with a need to have him around. She didn't understand it. 

Sure, in the last few weeks they had become friends, but she never needed him in her life before. Now she was suddenly missing him. And she couldn't stop thinking about kissing him. And Rory didn't do this. She didn't worry about boys and kissing. She worried about books and what college she was going to go to. 

She got upset over failing a test, not kissing one of her friends. 

But she was upset. And confused. She didn't know what to do. 

Was this lust? Was it just her body reacting to his touch? It couldn't be anything more, right? But Rory didn't just kiss a guy without meaning it. She knew that. And this had meant something. Even if she didn't want to admit it. But just what exactly did it mean?

Kissing him once in a moment of weakness she could explain. She had been upset, he had been upset and they had ended up kissing at Madeline's party. But what did it mean when it happened again? She hadn't been upset. He was perfectly fine. Yet she would have been quite happy to continue kissing him.

God, it was just like him to do this to her. He was so annoying. 

By Monday Rory was feeling nervous and jumpy. When her mother had casually asked her if Tristan was coming over later she had answered so quickly and erratically that Lorelai got the distinct impression something was going on.

When Rory got to school she didn't know whether she wanted to find Tristan and talk to him or run away and avoid him. She didn't even know what she was going to say.

She couldn't admit to him that she couldn't stop thinking about him all weekend. But she couldn't be with him, right? They were so wrong for each other. And Rory wasn't ready for this. This scared her. This wasn't the sweet and innocent first kiss she had had with Dean. This was a completely different feeling and it scared her. 

As she walked into school she saw Tristan straight away. She stood still for a second, contemplating what to do. And then just as he turned and noticed her she quickly turned and walked off in the other direction.

Tristan watched Rory see him and then walk the other way. He sighed, realizing that he got the answer to the question that had been bugging him all weekend. Had he messed everything up by kissing her? The answer was obviously yes.

But she had kissed him too. It wasn't entirely his fault. Rory was pulling him in all directions lately and he didn't know what to make of it. Sure, they were friends, but Tristan knew there was something more between them. He felt it every time he spoke to her. They had this chemistry that seemed to explode between them every time they spoke.

And it had finally been too much on Friday. One minute they were friends, the next they were kissing. 

He hated that one girl had such an affect on him. He had told himself after he had kissed her at Madeline's party that he wasn't going to pine after her. If Rory didn't realize what was right in front of her, then it was her loss. 

It was his loss too, but he wasn't the type of guy to stand around and wait for her to notice him. He liked that they were friends, but being just friends with her was a lot harder than he thought.

And now that he seemed to have stuffed that up too, he had had enough. He needed to get over this obsession with Rory, because that's all it was. A crazy obsession. And it was going to be his downfall.

******

Rory and Tristan avoided each other for the next couple of days. Rory didn't want to admit it, but she was really starting to miss having him around. But she didn't know what to say to him anymore. She had convinced herself that kissing Tristan had been a mistake, but her heart was having a hard time believing it. However Tristan seemed to have no problem moving on from her because she saw him flirting with Lucy Rickman on Wednesday, not even caring that Rory was standing right there. 

Tristan had been trying to get Rory to notice him, but she didn't appear to be affected. He had hoped that she might approach him if she realized that he wasn't going to wait around forever. She had started ignoring him, so he hadn't tried to force her to talk to him either. He was being stubborn, but he wanted her to come to him first. 

Rory likewise wanted him to come and talk to her. If he would just come and say something to her she would put the entire stupid kissing thing behind her and be his friend. Because she was sure that was all there was between them. 

"Stupid, flirting moron," Rory mumbled as she sat down in the Chilton library. She had just witnessed Tristan flirting with Lucy Rickman again!

"Could you keep it down?" Paris glared at her from across the table.

Rory glanced at the other girl. She hadn't even noticed her there. "Sorry."

She took her books out and tried to get some work done, but her mind was not cooperating.

"Rory!" Paris reprimanded. "Stop it."

"What? Oh." She hadn't realized she was tapping her pen against the table.

She put her pen down and sighed. Paris looked over at her, knowing what was bothering her, but not wanting to say anything. She was still kind of mad at Rory.

"He's not worth it, you know," Paris said, not being able to help herself.

"That's funny, because you used to think he was worth everything," Rory said back, knowing exactly who she was talking about.

"Well, things change."

"I doubt that."

"Things have obviously changed if you're upset over him."

"I'm not upset over him."

"I think the words you used were "stupid, flirting, moron"."

"Well, he is," Rory argued. 

"Right," Paris nodded. 

However much she hated it, she could tell Rory had developed feelings for Tristan even if she tried to deny it. And she knew Tristan always had a weird fascination with her. 

"It's true. And anyway I'm not upset. He's just annoying. We had a fight, that's all."

"Yeah, I don't really care," Paris said, realizing she really didn't want to know.

"Fine. I wasn't going to tell you anyway," Rory muttered.

Knowing she wasn't going to be able to concentrate anymore she grabbed her things and left the library. Just as she was coming around the corner she went straight into someone.

"Sorry…I…" She stopped suddenly, realizing it was Tristan of all people.

"Hey Ror." 

Tristan smiled at her. He knew he wanted her to come to him and talk to him, but he couldn't just ignore her when fate had thrown them together, literally. She looked so flustered and confused he almost felt bad for her. 

"Tristan," Rory replied, all her confusion over him coming back. "I…uh…"

"Need to watch where you're going," Tristan told her. "You'll end up bumping into someone who isn't so hot and forgiving."

"How do hot and forgiving even belong in the same sentence?" she asked him.

"Well, I'm hot. And I forgive you for bumping into me," he explained jokingly.

Rory rolled her eyes ignoring him. She loved that things just fell into place when she was with him. But she couldn't just let last weeks events hang in the air between them. She needed to know what was going on.  

"Listen Tristan about Friday…"

"It's fine, Rory," he cut in quickly, surprising her. "It was a mistake, right?"

Rory was a bit taken back that he had accepted it was a mistake so quickly. Was she worrying about this all week for no reason? Was she stupid to think it might have meant more to him? And why was she disappointed that it hadn't meant more to him? This was what she had wanted, right? No complications.

"Yeah, right." She nodded. "So, we're okay?"

"We're fine, Ror," he told her. He didn't know why he couldn't just tell her that it wasn't fine and he wanted her so badly that it was starting to become a problem. "You're not the first woman to fall helpless under my charm."

Rory groaned. "Please, Tristan. You have no charm."

He laughed. "If that's what you want to believe."

Rory elbowed him as they headed to their class. 

"You know, you really should control your violent tendencies," Tristan teased.

"I only get violent around you. I wonder why that is."

"I have no idea."

******

The day had been pretty good after that and Tristan's mood had improved. He didn't know exactly where he stood with Rory anymore, but at least she was talking to him. Despite his insistence that it was a mistake, he knew something was developing between them that he wouldn't be able to deny much longer. 

However his good mood went downhill when he got home. His father had been waiting for him with some bad news. Tristan hadn't wanted to hear it. He had ended up shouting at his father and going upstairs and slamming his door shut. 

God, he couldn't believe this. He needed to get out of the house.

He grabbed his car keys and then snuck past his Dad and out the front door. He was in Stars Hollow is a record twenty minutes. He didn't know why he needed to see her. He had never needed anyone before. But the first thing he had thought of was her beautiful face, and he knew it would make him feel better.

Luckily Rory answered the door. She instantly knew something was up.

"Tristan, what's wrong?" she asked, opening the door for him to come inside.

"What makes you think something's wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know. Maybe because you don't have your usual cocky grin on your face." 

"Oh. I'll have to work on that," Tristan said. "What were you doing?"

"Studying."

"Do you ever do anything else?" he teased.

"Not since starting Chilton," she replied. 

"You want to take a break?" he asked, a mischievous look in his eyes.

"Not really."

"Come on, Ror. Let's get out of here."

She watched him carefully. He was being jumpy, like he just needed to escape. She felt herself faltering under his gaze. 

"Let me just go change." She turned to walk to her room and Tristan started to follow. "You wait here!" 

Tristan laughed and stopped following her. She came out of her room, quickly wrote Lorelai a note and got into the car with Tristan.

They drove for ages, not really having a destination in mind. When Rory questioned him about where he was going, all he said was "nowhere" and surprisingly she didn't question him again. 

After about an hour Tristan parked the car. They were in a deserted field that Rory didn't recognize.

"Where are we?" she asked Tristan as they got out of the car.

"I don't know," he said truthfully.

"Maybe we should go. This could be private property."

"It's not. There would have been a sign," Tristan assured her. 

He went and sat on the hood of the car and Rory came and sat next to him. It was dark now and the field was empty, nothing else but green could be seen all around. It felt like they were the only two people in the world.

Rory didn't know what had happened to put Tristan in this strange mood, but she was glad she was there with him. It seemed like something was on his mind, but he didn't want to talk about it. She knew how that felt. Sometimes you didn't want to talk about it; you just wanted someone to be there with you.

Tristan wasn't saying anything; he was just looking out at the empty feel. Rory didn't know why she did it, but she felt the need to take his hand in her. When she lifted his hand and wrapped it between her two smaller ones Tristan looked at her, raising his eyebrows in question. She just smiled at him, not letting go. 

They sat like that, in silence for a while, until Tristan finally spoke. "My grandfather had a stroke," he whispered so quietly that Rory was sure she didn't hear right. But he carried on. "He was in Boston on business."

"Is he okay?"

"I think so. But I wanted to see for myself. My Dad said no."

"I'm sorry," Rory said, not knowing what else to say.

"I told him to cut back, but he's really stubborn."

"I'm sure he'll be okay," she assured him. "And if you're anything like him, then I understand the stubborn thing," she said lightly.

"I'm not stubborn," Tristan disputed.

"Yeah, you are."

"How?"

"You wouldn't stop harassing me until I finally succumbed and became your friend."

Tristan laughed. "Yeah, well, I never back down from a challenge."

"Is that all this is then?" Rory asked.

"Of course not." he said sincerely. 

He realized Rory was still holding his hand and she seemed to realize it at that moment too, but she didn't move her hands. 

"We should probably get back," she said.

"Yeah." Tristan got up and the put his hand out for Rory to take so she could get down. She ended up tripping and falling against him. 

He held her for a second and then let go. Rory's heart started beating faster and she tried to calm down as she got back into the car.

It was pretty late by the time they got back to Stars Hollow.

"Do you want to come inside?" Rory asked as they pulled up outside her house.

"No, I better go. I wasn't supposed to go out anyway."

"Oh." She started to get out of the car, but the stopped. "Will you be okay?" she asked.

Tristan smiled, feeling weird that someone actually cared how he was feeling. "I'll be fine," he assured her. "Thanks for coming with me."

"Anytime."

She turned back to him and kissed him softly on the cheek, feeling that he needed some affection at that moment. She smiled softly and then left the car.

Tristan watched her go inside before pulling away from the house. 

******

At school Tristan was back to his usual self. When Rory watched him from afar he seemed like the same Tristan. Talking and joking with his friends. Keeping up appearances. But Rory knew better. She knew the worries and things he hid underneath the surface. He showed her the real Tristan. 

Rory didn't know why he felt okay telling her things that he clearly didn't tell anyone else, but she was glad he did. She liked that he was open with her. And in return she had been opening up to him about things too. 

She bumped into him at the end of lunch and touched his hand softly. "Hey, how are you?" she asked.

Tristan smiled, feeling her genuine concern for him. "I'm fine. My grandfather is back in Hartford. I'm going to see him after school."

"Is he okay?"

"It was a minor stroke, but he still needs to take it easy."

"That's great news," she said as she walked to her locker.

"Yeah. He's a fighter," Tristan agreed.

"Like someone else I know."

"And I thought I was annoying, cocky, arrogant…"

Rory grinned. "Yeah, well you're those too. And a lot more not so nice words."

"Gee, your kindness astounds me."

"I'm going easy on you right now."

"I'd hate to be there when you're being hard," Tristan joked.

"I can be pretty ruthless," Rory agreed.

She finished getting her books and then headed to her class. Tristan watched her walk away, wondering why he had ever thought he could be her friend. 

*****

Tristan was right, Janlan DuGrey was a fighter. When Tristan went to visit him in the hospital after school he was complaining about everyone fussing over nothing.

"You need to rest up, gramps," Tristan said.

"Pfft. It was a minor stroke. I'm good for a few years yet," he told Tristan confidently.

Tristan rolled his eyes. His grandfather never seized to amaze him. He was so full of life, that it was weird for Tristan to think he was sick.

"So, what's new for you lately, boy? Did you find yourself a real girlfriend yet or are you still chasing after anything in a skirt?"

"I don't chase after them, remember."

Janlan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. You remind me so much of me, it's scary."

"Please do not tell me the story of how you met grandma again, I've heard it way too many times," Tristan complained.

Janlan just laughed. "So, who is the girl, anyway?"

"What girl?"

"The one you're smiling about. I noticed it last week too."

"There's no girl," Tristan lied. "Well, she's not my girlfriend."

"Why the hell not?"

"She doesn't want to be. And that's fine. We're just friends."

"Yeah, right." Janlan rolled his eyes. "When has it ever been like you to just stand back and let a girl slip through your fingers?"

"She's different," Tristan admitted.

Suddenly Janlan was interested. He had never heard Tristan talk about any girl being different. Although Tristan reminded him of himself when he was young, he had been waiting for the time Tristan would find a girl and really fall in love. Only then would he appreciate the great things life had to offer. And it looked like this girl was the one.

"What's her name?"

"Rory." Janlan raised his eyebrows. "Gilmore."

"Not Richard Gilmore's granddaughter?"

"Yep."

"I'm impressed. I remember her mother, Lorelai, she was a right firecracker."

"Rory's the same."

"So, why aren't you with her?"

"Haven't really tried to be," Tristan admitted.

"Why not?"

"She doesn't take me seriously," he said. 

"Well, make her." Tristan didn't seem convinced. "Come on, Tristan. Be a man. Isn't it Valentine's Day coming up?"

"I guess. But she doesn't buy into that crap."

"All girls buy into Valentine's Day. Even if they don't admit it."

"I'll see what I can do," Tristan agreed.

"Good. I want to meet this girl. Anyone who has been able to knock you off your high horse is great in my book."

"Gee, thanks gramps."

******

A/N: Okay just a timeline point. I originally started this fic as part of a Valentine's Day Fic Challenge, but it got really long and turned into a series, thus the mention of V-Day.

I know The Third Lorelai actually aired in early March, but with all the hiatus's and stuff lets just pretend it is around early January in TTL. So Rory and Dean dated Nov – Jan. Hope I didn't confuse you. 


	5. Chapter Five

**A/N: **You may notice a little bit of familiar dialogue in this part. I put it there on purpose because it's just so Trory. :)

**Chapter Five**

"So you and Tristan are pretty close these days," Paris commented as she approached Rory at her locker.

"Nice to see you too, Paris," Rory said patiently, knowing she Paris wasn't just making passing conversation. 

Paris still hadn't forgiven her over the date thing, and that had been almost a month ago. Rory suspected it was because she and Tristan had been getting so close lately. They had formed a sort of weird friendship, that Rory didn't really understand herself. But it was nice having someone to talk to in school. 

Even after the weird fighting after their kiss, things had just gone back to usual. Since the night they drove out to that field, they'd been getting even closer and Rory had come to find that she really liked having Tristan in her life. He was the same cocky and annoying boy, but he had been opening up to her more and more. She hadn't realized how wrong she had been about him before.

"I just find it funny that you would be dating Tristan after repeatedly telling me how much you couldn't stand him."

"I'm not dating him."

"Right," Paris said, obviously not believing her.

"Believe whatever you want, Paris, but Tristan and I are just friends. The kind of friends I was hoping you and I could be. I told you I'm sorry about setting you up with him. I was just trying to help. I didn't mean to make you feel bad."

"Yeah, well, I don't. I just think it's hypocritical that you would set me up with him when you know he wants you. And you obviously want him too."

Rory rolled her eyes, wondering what she needed to do to get through to her. "I. Do. Not. Want. Tristan," she said, slowly this time.

"Jeez, Ror. You don't have to announce it to the world," Tristan said, coming up behind her. "I do have a reputation to protect."

Rory jumped a little, feeling bad for saying what she had for some reason. She hadn't meant for Tristan to hear. But why did she feel bad? She didn't want Tristan, right? At least that was what she had convinced herself ever since their last kiss.

Noticing the way Rory was looking at Tristan, Paris just rolled her eyes. "Whatever you want to believe," she muttered, before walking off.

"What was all that about?" Tristan asked.

"Nothing," Rory said, closing her locker. "Just Paris being Paris."

"Okay." Tristan turned to Rory. "Guess what these are?" 

Rory looked at what he was holding in his hand and frowned. "Tickets to the Valentine's Day dance?"

"Yep."

"You're going?" she asked. She didn't know why she asked, because Tristan always went to things like these, with a different girl each time. But the idea suddenly made her nauseous.

"No," he said. "We're going."

"I can't go to the dance with you, Tristan."

"Reason?"

"It would seem like a date," she said. 

"Well, it would seem like a date because it would be a date."

"I can't date you Tristan."

"Well I give you permission," he smirked and she just rolled her eyes. "Okay, look, it doesn't have to be a date. Just two friends going together."

"To a Valentine's Dance?" 

She didn't seem convinced. Why the hell did he want to go with her? They had decided that they were just friends and things had been going really well. This would just confuse things again and she hated feeling confused about him.

"So?"

"You don't go to that dance with a friend."

"Well who else are you going to go with? Dean?" Tristan shot back, losing his temper a little. Why did she make everything so difficult?

Rory glared at him. "See you later," she said, before walking off.

******

She didn't see him later though. She didn't see him for three whole days in fact. Well, she saw him, but he was avoiding her for some reason. She didn't think she had really done anything to earn his avoidance. She had just told him the truth. She couldn't date him. It would just be so wrong. 

But she couldn't help wondering why exactly it would be so bad. Would it be that bad to go with him? They could just go as friends. They didn't have to be more. She could do platonic. 

No, it was too weird. She didn't feel ready to go with Tristan. He was already making her confused lately. With the kissing and the weird feelings he was creating. She had only just started to come to terms with the fact that Dean was no longer part of her life. She couldn't let someone else in, only to have him leave her.

Why did Tristan ask her of all people? He could have asked any girl in the entire school. They would definitely say yes, and they wouldn't just want to be friends. 

Why did that thought not provide her with any comfort? She didn't want Tristan to go with anyone else. If she was totally honest, she really liked having him around. She liked being with him. 

No, she couldn't…she couldn't have fallen for Tristan DuGrey of all people. He was not her type at all. She was having a mental break down. Surely that was the reason for her insane behavior. 

It was just like him to confuse her like this. 

"Rory?" Lorelai knocked on the door of her room, breaking her thoughts.

"Yeah," she called back and Lorelai stepped into the room. Rory was sitting at her desk trying to study, but her thoughts kept going to the annoying blonde guy. 

"Hey, you okay?" Lorelai asked, 

"Yeah, sure. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You've been acting kinda spacey lately."

"I'm fine," Rory assured her.

"Okay. Well Grandma just called to say we can have dinner on Saturday since it's your Chilton Valentine's Day dance on Friday. How come I didn't know you were going?"

"Probably because I'm not. You told her, right?"

"And get stuck going to hell on Valentine's Day? No way," Lorelai said. "Why aren't you going to the dance?"

"I don't do dances."

"Yes, you do."

"The last one I went to, my boyfriend got into a fight with a guy and we ended up falling asleep in a barn. Which, if I remember rightly, didn't go over too well with my mother."

Lorelai grinned. "So, Tristan asked you?"

"What?" Rory was so flustered by Lorelai's random question it just confirmed her suspicions. 

"Well if he hadn't you would have just said you don't have a date and then I would have told you Valentine's is stupid anyway and we should just veg out at home. But you didn't, so I'm assuming he asked you."

"That was so sneaky," Rory pouted. "And why would you just assume Tristan would ask me? We're just friends."

"Rory, my poor sweet girl. You and Tristan were never, are not, and will never be _just_ friends. And these past couple of weeks haven't changed that."

"What do you mean?"

"Tristan likes you. He always has."

"No," Rory said simply. She refused to believe Tristan really liked her. If Tristan liked her it meant that everything they had done in the past few weeks wasn't real. It was all building up to something that Rory wasn't sure she was ready for.

"What do you mean no? That's not an answer."

"I don't like him."

"Okay," Lorelai agreed too quickly.

"No, really, I don't," Rory stressed. She didn't like Tristan. She didn't like Tristan. If she kept saying it maybe she would believe it and all this insaneness would just go away. 

"I said okay."

"But you don't believe me," Rory whined.

"No, I don't," Lorelai agreed with a grin.

"You're so annoying."

"Hey, take that back," Lorelai insisted. It was quite funny seeing Rory this confused about a boy. Rory refused to believe what Lorelai knew was the truth. Tristan had managed to get through all of her beliefs about him and show her how much he cared about her. 

"Tell me you believe me. I don't like Tristan."

"I really do not believe you."

"Mom!"

"What? You believe you don't like him, and that should be enough, right? Don't worry about tomorrow. We'll just stay home and watch movies and eat lots of junk food all night."

"Sounds good to me."

"But if you wanted to, I would be willing to go to Luke's and amuse myself while you went to the dance with Tristan."

"Bye Mom."

"It was just a suggestion."

******

Friday came all too soon, and Rory had to avoid the couples all around her. It made her miss being a couple. Although she had tried not to think about Dean much lately she missed being part of an 'us'. And she was sure Valentine's Day was just a stupid ploy created to make all the single people feel bad. 

She approached her locker to change her books and opened it. She was surprised at the burst of red that suddenly invaded her eyesight. Her locker was filled with red roses, streamers, a balloon, a box of chocolates and a card with Mary written on it in what she instantly recognized as Tristan's handwriting.

But in the middle of it all was a cup of coffee, which is she quickly picked up.

"Mmm coffee."

"You know, I put that in there as a last resort," Tristan said as he approached her from behind.

"Well it's a good thing you did. The roses and chocolates, not so impressive, but this, you definitely get brownie points for," she told him as she took a long sip of the drink.

Tristan came to stand beside her, leaning against the row of lockers as he looked at her. 

"I'll have to remember that," he said. 

"Yep, you will," she said offhandedly. 

Inside though she was really impressed. She wasn't one to fall for a bunch of flowers, but Tristan had obviously gone to a lot of trouble. And it was really really sweet. However much she tried to tell herself that she didn't like him, she knew she was lying. 

"So, what was this in aid of?" Rory asked him.

"To embarrass you in front of everyone of course," he said simply, and she just noticed people looking over at her, but she didn't care much.

"I'm not embarrassed."

"Well I was hoping you would forgive me for being presumptuous and buying the tickets for the dance without asking you, and then getting mad when you said no."

"And?"

"And I was hoping you would change your mind and come with me anyway."

"You really want to go?" Rory asked him again.

"Well not really. But it could be fun if we go together."

"Why?" Rory asked.

"Well it's a stupid Chilton dance and we can stand in the corner and mock people," Tristan said, not understanding the question.

"No. Why are you asking me? Why not someone else?"

"Oh." Tristan wasn't expecting that question. And he couldn't believe she hadn't figured it out already. Was she purposely being oblivious? "Because I've sworn off girls, remember?"

"Yeah, but…this is you, Tristan. I didn't really expect it to last. Don't you have a reputation to protect or something?"

"I don't really care. And hey, I can last at not going after girls. I proved that to you."

"Yeah, I'm surprised."

"I think it was you laughing at me. It bruised my ego. You know how I like to prove myself."

"So, you're abstaining to prove a point?"

"Well, when you say it like that it sounds stupid."

"You don't have to, you know." Rory said, feeling bad that Tristan had changed just because she had laughed. "I get it. You can date or sleep with whoever you want now."

"Why are you pushing me away?" Tristan asked defensively. 

He didn't understand Rory. They had been getting closer lately, and after that kiss in his room and everything that had been growing between them lately he thought she would feel something for him too.

"I'm not."

"What are you so afraid of, Rory? That we'll go, and maybe have a good time? That you'll realize what's right in front of you?"

"What? I'm not afraid of anything," she said, not understanding what he was trying to say.

"Prove it."

"By going to this dance with you?"

"Yes."

"Fine," she said.

"What? Fine, as in yes? Just like that."

Rory laughed. "Yes. I was going to agree eventually anyway. I just wanted to make you sweat."

"You're evil, you know that?" 

"Yep." She smiled at him sweetly before turning and walking off to class.

When she was safely out of his vision, she stopped, realizing that she had just agreed to go out with Tristan. She had forgotten to tell him they were just going as friends. Or maybe she didn't really want to go as friends. Maybe she was tired of running from this thing, whatever it was. 

******

"What are you doing?" Lorelai asked her daughter. Rory was rummaging through Lorelai's closet, making a mess as she threw outfits out of her way.

"Looking for something to wear," Rory's mumbled voice came from inside the closet.

"What's wrong with your clothes?"

"Nothing," Rory said, looking at her mother and trying to act casual. "I just felt like a change."

"To sit at home and watch movies?" Lorelai asked knowing there was more to it.

"Yeah," Rory agreed. "Except, well, I kind of, might have agreed to go to the dance with Tristan."

Lorelai grinned. "So, you finally gave in, huh? I have to give the Evil One some props if he managed to convince you."

"I did not give in," Rory lied. "It's not a date."

"Does Tristan know that?"

"Well, no. It is sort of a date. But it's not so much. I don't know. It's stupid. I hate Valentine's Day. It is not a night to have first dates with ex-evil-boy-turned-friend." 

"I've never seen you this flustered over a guy. I'm impressed. You really are my daughter."

Rory glared at her mother. "I have been flustered over Dean before."

"No, not really. You were all smiley over Dean. Right now you look a little scared."

"I am scared!" Rory admitted.

She didn't understand this. This strange nauseating feeling at the pit of her stomach. She had never experienced this before. And Tristan was her friend. Or sort of was her friend. She was not supposed to feel like this about him.

"You like him. You really like him." Lorelai grinned.

"Maybe. A little," Rory admitted. "I don't know."

"How can you not know? He's hot, Rory."

"Mom! Gross. Please do not do that."

"Hey, I'm young and hip. It's allowed." 

"You're also my mother. So it's not allowed. At all."

Lorelai just stuck her tongue out at her daughter. "Let me have a look," she said, looking for something for Rory to wear.

"Nothing too fancy," Rory warned. "I don't want him to think I went to a lot of effort."

"But you are going to a lot of effort."

"Yes, but I don't want him to know that."

"Okay, let's get you ready."

******

Rory stepped out of her room a few hours later and was greeted by Lane and Lorelai looking extremely pleased with themselves.

"Oh my, she's all grown up," Lorelai said jokingly.

"You look great, Rory," Lane told her. 

"You sure?" Rory asked.

She had borrowed a red dress from Lorelai that ended just above the knee. The straps came and tied around her neck, and the dress fit her very nicely. 

"Yes!" Lane said, encouragingly. "I wish I could see the look on his face when he picks you up, but I better get going before mamma comes after me. I said I was coming to pick up a book." She stepped forward and gave Rory a quick hug. "Have fun. You deserve it."

"Thanks. I will."

"I'll be here first thing tomorrow morning for a full report," Lane added as she left through the back door.

Lorelai smiled at her daughter. "You know, I'm a little worried about sending you out with this boy. He just seems like trouble."

"Probably because he is," Rory said, not even trying to ease her mother's worry.

"That's not really helping, Ror. Just make sure you're home by curfew. I'll be less likely to believe the 'we fell asleep in a barn' story with this one."

"We did just fall asleep," Rory protested. "And anyway I'll be home. Tristan and I are just friends."

"Yeah, for now. I know these boys. Your Dad was this boy. And look how that turned out."

"Gee, thanks."

"You know what I mean. Just be careful."

The door bell rang before Rory could answer her mother. She got up to answer it, but Lorelai tried to stop her.

"You can't answer the door."

"Yes, I can. Because you're going upstairs. You are not giving him the third degree on what isn't even a date."

"It's Valentine's Day, Rory. You're going on a date. And I want to give him the speech!" Lorelai whined.

"No. No speech. Please?" Rory begged, and Lorelai sighed.

"Fine, I'm going upstairs, but he's going to get the speech eventually."

Rory laughed as she watched her Mom go upstairs. She took a deep breath, reminded herself this wasn't really a date and then opened the door.

"Hi, Rory."

Rory's mouth dropped in surprise.

"Dean?"


	6. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

Dean suddenly felt nervous at Rory's reaction to him. He didn't know why he had decided to come over. It was just seeing all the couples at school today, he had really missed Rory. He really did love her, and it hurt him that she couldn't say the same. He wasn't sure what he exactly wanted to happen now, but he just had to see her.

Realizing she was dressed up, he suddenly felt really stupid.

"You're going out?" he stated stupidly.

"Yeah. I…There's this thing at Chilton and…What are you doing here?" Rory asked.

"I don't know," Dean admitted. "I just needed to see you. And I guess I thought you'd be at home. But it's okay. I'll just go…"

He turned to leave, but Rory couldn't just let him leave. "Dean, wait!"

"What?"

"Is that it? All you have to say?" she asked. She didn't know exactly what she wanted him to say, but she didn't want him to leave like that. 

"I guess so," he said. 

"But…"

"It was a mistake. I shouldn't have come," he said.

"Yeah, you're probably right," she agreed. "But I miss you."

"You do?" Dean seemed surprised.

"Yeah. I hate that we've been avoiding each other," she admitted. He was her first boyfriend and her first kiss, and he had been a good friend to her. It felt weird that all of that had suddenly disappeared.

"Me too. But I can't be your friend, Rory."

"Why not?" she asked. 

"It's too hard."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

He turned to leave again and Rory called after him. "Maybe I'll see you around?"

"Yeah, maybe," he agreed before walking away from her. 

He didn't notice Tristan who was standing by his car, having witnessed the whole thing. For a second Tristan felt all his old jealousy coming back. God, how he hated Dean. He hated that Dean was with Rory when he had been too stupid to even admit he liked her. But he wasn't going to throw away his chance with Rory. He was not going to let her go back to Dean without giving him a chance.

Rory was still standing on the porch watching Dean leave, a confused expression on her face, when she noticed Tristan walking up towards her. Her confusion instantly turned into happiness as she grinned at him.

"You're late," she teased.

"Actually I was early, but you were a little busy."

"Oh." Rory frowned, wondering how to explain about Dean. "That was…He was just…"

"It's okay, Ror," Tristan cut her off.

"We were just talking," she explained, while wondering exactly why she felt the need to explain.

It was weird that she actually cared what Tristan thought now. She didn't want him to think she was back together with Dean. 

"You look amazing," Tristan complimented, filling the silence.

"Compared to the Chilton uniform you usually see me in, anything I wear will look good," she said, shrugging off the compliment.

"I wasn't just talking about the dress," Tristan clarified, coming closer to her. Rory blushed, knowing that Tristan was being sincere. "And you don't like the Chilton uniform?" he carried on. "I think it makes you look cute."

"There you go with that word again."

"Oh, I'm sorry. It makes you look sexy."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Enough with the flattery, Romeo, I already agreed to go with you."

"But it's true. You look gorgeous, sexy, amazing, your beauty blinds me, I can't think straight…"

"Tristan!" she interrupted. "Let's go."

He laughed, held his arm out for her, which she took and then walked towards the car.

******

They were almost to Chilton when Tristan pointed out, "You do know everyone's going to think we're together."

"Yep."

"And they're going to talk."

"Yeah."

"And that doesn't bother you?"

"I don't really care what people think," Rory said truthfully. 

Tristan didn't know what to say to that so they just sat in silence for a while, the radio playing quietly in the background. Tristan was confused by Rory. She hadn't pointed out that this wasn't a date, and she wasn't bothered if people assumed this was a real date. So, did this mean she had agreed to really go out with him?

He didn't know, and it was bugging him. He didn't know if he was allowed to take chances. All he wanted to do since he saw her on the steps was kiss her, but he didn't know whether or not that would freak her out. He had slowly gained her trust and friendship and he didn't want to blow that. 

"So, is this a date?" he asked, finally breaking the silence.

"I don't know," Rory said, unsure of herself. It felt weird going out with Tristan, especially since it had only been a few weeks since they even became friends. But a lot had changed since then. "Do you want it to be?"

"I think you know the answer to that." He couldn't really believe that she didn't know how much he wanted to be with her. 

Rory didn't know what to say to that, so she didn't say anything.

******

When Rory walked into the Chilton dance hall, and people started to look at her and Tristan, she wondered what she was thinking going on her first date with Tristan on Valentine's Day and coming to Chilton of all places. It was an insanely stupid thing to do.

She knew they were going to ask her about Tristan and she had no clue what to tell them. She didn't even know what the hell was going on between them. This wasn't even supposed to be a real date. 

But it felt like a real date, and she kind of wanted it to be one too. She didn't know exactly what she was feeling for Tristan right now, but she was definitely feeling something. 

She didn't know how her feelings for him had changed so suddenly. With Dean, she had liked him from the minute she saw him. But Tristan she had hated and then kind of tolerated, and now she kind of liked him…a lot. She couldn't help it; he had been really great the last few weeks. He made her laugh and smile, and she'd actually enjoyed going to school the past few weeks, for reasons other than the actual learning.

"So, you want to dance?" Tristan asked. He had leaned over to whisper in her ear so she could hear him over the music, but his hot breath against her neck made her skin tingle. 

"Sure," she agreed, trying to ignore the sensations his touch was creating. 

The song that was playing was slow, and Rory suddenly felt really weird about this. But Tristan pulled her into his arms easily and all her thoughts disappeared. He smiled at her and everything just seemed right.

******

Rory and Tristan were dancing when Lucy Rickman approached them. "Do you mind if I cut in?" she asked, practically pushing Rory out of the way.

"Actually Lucy, I'm going to dance with my date," Tristan interrupted, keeping hold of Rory.

"Oh, uh, okay. I'm sorry, I thought you were just friends," she said, looking between the two of them. She didn't seem very happy as she walked away.

"You could have danced with her if you wanted," Rory said.

Tristan rolled his eyes. "I didn't want to."

"But…"

"Mary!" He looked a bit pissed so she dropped it.

She laughed as he twirled her around suddenly, pulling her out and then back against him. Her body fell against his and she felt a weird sensation. She was really glad he was dancing with her and not Lucy.

"So, tell me something?" Tristan said as they danced.

"What?"

"Do I really look like someone who does your taxes?" Rory laughed. "Because I have a reputation as a badass to uphold."

"Oh, your reputation is safe. I wouldn't trust you to do my taxes."

"Thanks, I think."

"He was just jealous," Rory pointed out. "He seemed to think you had a thing for me."

Tristan grinned. "Maybe he was right."

"Maybe?" she asked. 

"Maybe," he agreed, not giving her a proper answer. "So, uh, what did he want?" he asked. He really didn't want to ask, but he couldn't help himself.

Rory noticed the slight jealousy and smiled. "Nothing."

"Yeah, right," Tristan scoffed.

"Seriously. We haven't spoken to each other since we broke up. There's nothing there anymore."

She seemed so sincere that Tristan had to believe her. "Well good. I would hate to have to get into a fist fight for your affections."

Rory laughed. "That's good to know. And by the way, you would totally take him," she added jokingly. 

"Oh, I know I would."

******

"There you are," Tristan said later that night when he found Rory. She was outside by the school gardens, sitting on a low wall.

"I'm hiding from you," she told him with a grin.

Tristan went over and sat next to her. "Why? You feeling overwhelmed by your growing lust for me?" he teased.

"Yep. You got me," she deadpanned.

It was a nice night outside. They could hear the music playing from inside, but outside it seemed calm and surreal. They sat together for a while, just enjoying being in each others company.

Rory wondered how someone went from annoying you every day, to being the one you always wanted to turn to. Her newfound friendship with Tristan was confusing enough as it was, but now she was reacting to him. His body so close to her, his hands touching hers as they were dancing, his breath tingling on her skin every time he spoke to her. She didn't understand the feelings he was stirring inside her. They were so new and different. And the fact that it was Tristan making her feel this way was even more confusing. 

She had tried to chalk their first two kisses up to a lapse in judgment, but she knew she was lying to herself. She wasn't the type of girl to accidentally kiss someone. She had done it because she cared.

But she also wasn't the type to fall for the bad boy. She liked nice kind boys who kept things safe. Tristan was anything but safe. They weren't even together yet and all she wanted to do was kiss him. It was crazy.

"So, it hasn't been so bad, has it?" Tristan asked, breaking her thoughts.

"No," Rory admitted. "It's actually been fun."

Despite being surrounded by people Rory didn't know, she had had a great time with Tristan. They had been dancing and joking together all night, and she hadn't had this much fun in a long time.

"That's because you're with me," he told her jokingly.

She turned her eyes on him seriously. "Yeah," she whispered, agreeing with him. 

Suddenly all the people in the Chilton hall seemed to disappear to the point that they could barely hear the music anymore. It was just the two of them outside in there own little world. Tristan realized just how close they were sitting. Her lips were only inches from him, and he couldn't help himself. He needed to kiss her.

He leaned forward and Rory moved towards him too. 

"Ror…" he whispered just as his lips brushed hers.

"Yeah?"

"You're not going to cry are you?"

He was so serious that Rory just laughed before closing the distance between them and kissing him. It started off soft and unsure, Tristan was being a little tentative as if he thought she would still pull away from him.

But Rory couldn't pull away. She didn't know exactly how she ended up here, kissing Tristan of all people, but she knew it felt right. She opened up to him, letting his tongue caress hers as the heat between them suddenly increased. 

He moved his hand to rest on her waist, pulling her small frame against his body. Her hands moved around his neck, her fingers running through the soft hair at the back of his neck. 

Tristan let out a soft moan as she continued to kiss him. Without realizing it he had lifted her up and in between his legs, so her body was pulled right against his. 

When they finally pulled away from the kiss, but not from each other, their breathing was out of control. Tristan smiled as he noticed Rory's lips were swollen and looked thoroughly kissed. 

He moved one hand from her waist, up to her face, softly caressing her cheek before moving her hair out of her face. 

Rory didn't know what to say so she didn't say anything. She just enjoyed being in his arms, with him looking at her like she was the most beautiful person alive. How had she never noticed the way he looked at her before? How did she never notice him before?

"So, I guess this is a date?" Tristan asked, finally breaking the silence.

Rory laughed. "Yeah, it is."

She leaned forward and wrapped her arms him and Tristan felt like he was dreaming. But Rory really was in his arms, hugging him. 

When she finally pulled away he stood up. "Do you want to go back inside?" he asked.

"Sure," she agreed. 

Tristan started to go inside, but Rory grabbed his hand, stopping him.

"Tristan?"

"Yeah?"

"There's no other girl, right?" she asked, suddenly unsure.

His answer would confirm that she really was the one he wanted to be with all along. Tristan knew he was admitting that she was the one for him, but after that kiss he didn't care.

"No, Ror. There's no one else."

Rory smiled, feeling suddenly relieved. As if all the changes that had been happening between them lately resulted in this one moment where they realized they wanted to be together.

******

Tristan and Rory pulled up to her driveway at midnight, their evening finally coming to an end. They got out of the car and walked to the door.

Rory turned to Tristan, suddenly feeling awkward. "So I guess this…"

She was cute off by Tristan's lips, as he pulled her to him and kissed her. This was their first kiss since they admitted they were together. This time Tristan wasn't tentative, he was demanding, and Rory kissed him back with just as much passion. 

Her arms wrapped around his neck as she pulled him closer to her. The fact that she was on her doorstep seemed lost to her as Tristan's arms came around her waist.

"I…uh…" Rory tried to say something as she pulled away.

"I don't think I've ever left you speechless before," Tristan teased.

"Well there's a first time for everything," she said. 

They were still holding each other, and even though this was only their first date, Rory felt completely comfortable in his arms. 

"I should probably get inside," she told him.

"Yeah," Tristan let go of her. "But I have to give you your present first."

"Tristan, you already got me a card, flowers, chocolates, balloons and god knows what else. I haven't even had time to go through it all."

Tristan laughed. "Yeah, but those things don't really mean anything to you. I was just trying to get you to agree to go out with me."

"Well it worked," Rory agreed.

He ran back to his car and grabbed a small gift bag he had put there earlier before going back to Rory and handing it to her.

"It's nothing special so don't get you hopes up," he warned.

Rory opened the bag and pulled out her present.

"Casablanca?"

"Yeah. You know because of…"

Rory cut off his explanation with a kiss. It was weird how she was so used to kissing him after just one night.

"I love it, thank you."

"No problem." Rory suddenly felt like laughing, and Tristan frowned at her. "What?"

"Nothing. I just can't believe I'm going out with Tristan DuGrey."

Tristan smiled. "I knew you'd be helpless underneath my charm eventually."

"Yeah, right." She rolled her eyes. "I think it was mostly the fact that you stopped calling me Mary every five seconds."

"Well…" Tristan stepped closer to her, his breath against her ear. "If you want, the offer to get rid of that nickname once and for all still stands."

And then they were kissing again, lost in each others world, not wanting to let go. 

"Tris…" Rory said in between kisses.

"Yeah?"

"I should…" She gestured to the door.

"Right," he agreed, pulling away from her.

"See you Monday?" 

"Yeah. Good night Ror. Happy Valentine's Day." He kissed her again softly before turning to leave.

Rory watched him leave with a smile on her face. 

******

Lorelai jumped onto the couch just as Rory walked through the door. Her daughter looked at her suspiciously.

"Were you spying on me?" Rory asked.

"No! No. What would give you such an idea? I was merely waiting on the couch for my daughter to come home," Lorelai answered in her usual quirky fashion. "So, how was your date?"

"It wasn't a date," Rory lied.

"Yeah, that's why Tristan had his tongue down your throat."

"Ha! I knew you were spying!" Rory accused, amused with her mother, but also a little embarrassed.

"I was not. I just happen to get up and wander towards the window at the exact moment you came home."

"Okay." Rory rolled her eyes. "Well I'm going to bed."

"What? You are not going to bed young lady. Not until you tell me all the gossip."

"Mom!"

"What?"

"I'm tired," she lied. What she really wanted to do was wake Lane up and have a good gossip about Tristan. As close as she was to her mother she didn't think she could tell her about the sensations Tristan was stirring inside her lately.

"You're not even going to tell me anything?" Lorelai pouted.

Rory sighed and flopped down on the couch. "Well I think we're together now."

"Duh!"

Rory glared at her Mom. "We kissed at the dance. It was this perfect moment. And we had a lot of fun. And he's really great."

"I thought he was the Evil One?"

"Well yeah, he is. But he's complex."

"I don't know if you want a complex boyfriend, Ror."

"He makes me laugh and feel happy, and I can't believe I'm talking about Tristan DuGrey."

"I can," Lorelai told her, but Rory just frowned. "You know, that whole third grade "I like you so I'm going to pick on you" mentality. I knew he was pulling that the minute you told me about him."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you wouldn't have believed me. And he needed to get over it before you should have given him a chance. Thankfully he figured it out on his own."

"Yeah."

******

Rory went into her room after talking to her Mom for a little while. After changing and getting ready for bed, she noticed all of the things Tristan had put in her locker earlier today sitting on her table. She hadn't had a chance to look at the things properly yet.

She picked up the envelope she hadn't even opened yet and quickly tore it open. The card was cute and simple, with a picture of a King and Queen on the front of it. The school project that they had started the same day they became friends was finished, but Tristan liked to remind her that she had been his Queen occasionally.

She opened the card with a smile on her face. On the right side was a simple note.

_Dear Mary, _

_Happy Valentine's Day_

_Love Tristan_

But on the other side Tristan had taken the time to write a more personal message.

_Rory,_

_I don't really know how to write these messages, and it feels really stupid, but I have a few things I wanted to say. Whatever happens, or doesn't happen between us today, I just wanted to let you know that I think you're a really good person and I'm glad we're friends. _

_Luv_

_Tristan_

Rory smiled at Tristan's sincerity. She knew he had a soft side underneath that bad boy exterior; he just didn't let it out very often.

She got in bed and tried to sleep, but even though it was almost one o'clock in the morning, she couldn't stop thinking about him. It was weird. Dean never consumed her thoughts this much. This was definitely new and different.

After about five minutes Rory gave up trying to sleep and tiptoed into the living room. She had to throw quite a few things around before she finally found the phone.

She dialed Tristan's number, thanking God that he had his own private line. He answered after only two rings, so he obviously wasn't sleeping either.

"Hey gorgeous," he answered the phone.

"Should I be worried that you answer your phone like that?" she asked as she got into bed.

"Rory? Oh shit, I thought it was my other girlfriend," he joked.

"Funny, Tristan." Rory rolled her eyes. "How did you know it was me, anyway?"

"Caller I.D."

"Oh. Well I was just calling to…"

"Hear my sexy voice before you went to sleep?"

"See if you got home okay, actually."

"Aww, your concern warms my heart. I got home fine. I'm in bed now, but not sleeping, because all I can think about is you."

"Well good luck with that."

"Rory…" he whined.

"Yeah."

"I miss you."

She smiled, but tried to act nonchalant. "You just saw me."

"I know. I was going to call you, but I didn't want to incur the wrath of your mother."

"Good idea. She does not like to be woken by anything other than coffee."

"I'll remember that."

"Yeah, just bring coffee every time you come over and you should be fine."

"It's rather strange how much importance you put on that one drink."

"Tristan DuGrey! Coffee is not just a drink! It is a life force."

"Okay, Rory, you're scaring me now."

Rory laughed. "You have so much to learn."

"You can teach me," Tristan said.

"Yeah," Rory agreed as a yawn escaped her. "Look what talking to you does to me?" she joked.

"I thought you enjoyed our witty banter."

"Yeah, but at a decent hour."

"Okay, I'll call you tomorrow. Goodnight, babe."

"'Night Tristan."


	7. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

"So, Rory, dear, how was the Valentine's Dance?" Emily Gilmore asked casually the next day. 

Lorelai smirked at her daughter across the table. "Uh, it was fun," Rory said politely. 

"I heard you had a very handsome date," Emily prodded further. 

"I don't know about that," Rory said out of reflex. She was so used to insulting Tristan she forgot she was talking to her grandmother. 

"How did you even know about her date?" Lorelai interjected. 

"I have connections, Lorelai," Emily explained. "And I must say, Rory, I am impressed. Tristan DuGrey seems like a fine young man."

Rory wanted to laugh. She didn't think her grandmother would think he was a 'fine young man' if she knew about his reputation.

"DuGrey you say?" Richard chimed into the conversation. "Ah, yes, Janlan's grandson, right? Janlan is a fine man. Poor man works so hard he had a stroke a couple of weeks ago."

"I know, Tristan was really upset," Rory added, getting another smirk from her mother. 

Lorelai had been teasing her about her new relationship with Tristan the entire journey to her grandparents. She seemed to find it amusing that Rory had actually believed her and Tristan could be just friends.

"So, you and this Tristan, you're serious?" Emily enquired.

"Mom, they only had their first date yesterday, give them a chance," Lorelai said.

"I am merely enquiring about my granddaughter's life, Lorelai. Is that so wrong?"

"Well it starts as enquiring and then the next thing you know you'll be inviting them to dinner."

"Now that you mention it, I think that's a wonderful idea." Lorelai groaned, but Emily took no notice. "Isn't it Richard? You haven't seen Janlan for quite some time; we can invite him and Tristan to next weeks Friday dinner."

Rory's face widened in surprise, and she tried to convey to her mother how much she hated that idea.

"Woah, getting a bit ahead of ourselves aren't we Mom? They've barely started dating."

"What is so wrong about inviting her young friend here? Surely you are not embarrassed of me, right Rory?"

"No, of course not, grandma," Rory said politely while Lorelai glared at her for being a chicken. "It's just that…uh…we're really busy at Chilton for the next few weeks, and maybe we can do the dinner after things have settled down."

"Very well," Emily agreed. "So, tell me about this Tristan? It's such a relief that you finally got some taste."

"Uh, I think Dean was good taste," Lorelai jumped in. She knew Emily was only impressed with Tristan because of his name. 

"Oh, yes, of course. But Rory is no longer with that boy, and if I'm right it was not her choice for it to be that way."

Rory groaned inwardly as her private life was brought up at the dinner table. 

"That doesn't mean he wasn't a good boy," Lorelai defended. "Just because Tristan has money does not mean he's automatically great."

"Well, no," Emily agreed. "But he must be special if Rory has taken to him."

Lorelai rolled her eyes, wondering why she even bothered. 

"So, grandma how's things at the country club?" Rory asked, trying for a subtle subject change. 

******

"My grandparents are your biggest fans. I swear my grandma is mentally planning the wedding already," Rory groaned. She was lying in bed talking to Tristan on the phone that night. 

"Aww, isn't that sweet," Tristan grinned. 

"I barely tolerate you enough to date you, if you think I'll marry you you're severely deluded," she teased. 

"You wound me, Mary. I've already bought the rock," he joked. 

"I'm not the rock type, Tristan. You should know that."

"I know. I wouldn't dare buy you anything expensive."

"Well, once in a while wouldn't hurt. There has to be some perks to dating you."

"If I could be there in your room I'd show you exactly what the perks of dating me are," he leered. 

Rory blushed. She didn't need his encouragement to have those kinds of thoughts about him. They seemed to end up in her head without any help.

"Are you sure I can't come over, I can be there in twenty minutes?"

"And I'm sure my mother would appreciate the visit at one in the morning."

"You said she's a heavy sleeper."

"But she has a sense about evil boys trying to corrupt her daughter."

"So, I'm still evil, huh?" 

"Oh yeah, very evil. You're going to need to do some major work before you lose that title." 

Tristan grinned. "I like the sound of that."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Do you think of nothing else?"

"When you're involved? Not a chance."

"You're hopeless."

"Yep."

******

The rest of the weekend passed by pretty uneventfully. Rory hadn't looked forward to a Monday this much in a very long time, and she knew it was crazy. How the boy who once used to annoy her, could make her miss him so much, she didn't know.

She walked in to school, expecting to find Tristan waiting for her at her locker, but was disappointed when he wasn't there. 

Paris was there however and Rory sighed. She was still not talking to her, and Rory knew she would not take the news of her and Tristan dating well.

Without saying a word to Paris Rory started arranging her books from her locker.

"Uh…listen Rory," Paris said, breaking the silence. "I may have been a little hasty in uh…refusing to speak to you lately."

Paris had realized that however much she wanted to; she couldn't blame Tristan not liking her on Rory. It was stupid. And despite everything she did, she really did like Rory most of the time. 

Rory, knowing that was as good as an apology as she was going to get just smiled at Paris. "Uh, that's ok."

"So…uh…how was your weekend? Valentine's must have sucked now that you're not with that boyfriend of yours."

"Oh yeah…actually…"

"Do you think Tristan went to that Valentine's dance?" Paris asked. "Not that I care really. I just figured you'd know if he took someone."

"Actually Paris I…"

"Hey gorgeous," Tristan cut her off, coming up behind her and turning her so quickly she didn't have time to react before his lips found hers.

His hands snaked around her petite waist and his tongue sought entrance into her mouth. This wasn't a 'middle of corridor' kind of kiss. This was a full on 'I want you so bad' type of kiss. But that didn't seem to register on either of their minds. Rory was so distracted by Tristan's lips, that she totally forgot about Paris and the fact that she was in the middle of school. Her arms snaked around Tristan's neck, pulling him closer, letting him devour her. 

Paris's mouth dropped open as she saw the two of them kissing. She couldn't really believe her eyes. She knew Tristan liked Rory, but she couldn't believe she had given in. 

"I guess that's my answer," Paris mumbled as they pulled away.

"Oh Paris, I'm sorry I was going to tell…"

"Uh, don't worry about it," Paris mumbled, not having the energy to be angry. She closed her locker and walked off, leaving Rory feeling really bad.

"What was all that about?" Tristan asked.

"Uh, nothing," Rory lied. She turned to Tristan and put all thoughts of Paris out of her mind. 

He leaned forward and kissed her again, but this time she pulled away.

"I think we need to have a talk about all the PDA's," she warned him.

"But I missed you!" he whined.

"You spoke to me five times on Saturday and eight times on Sunday…"

"But who's counting right?"

"…You can't possibly have missed me."

"I did," Tristan said, as he leaned forward to kiss her again.

"Tristan…" she said, trying to be assertive, but failing. 

Noticing her blush, Tristan pulled away. "Sorry," he said, somewhat sincerely. "Do you want to come over after school to study? We'll have the whole place to ourselves."

"Yeah and we'll get so much study done that way," Rory said sarcastically.

"Well if you can't trust yourself to be alone with me, we could always go somewhere more public. I for one am completely capable of concentrating on studying."

"Yeah, sure you are."

Rory rolled her eyes as she took Tristan's hand and led him into their next class.

******

"Mr. DuGrey, as interesting as I'm sure Miss Gilmore's ear is, can you please try and concentrate on the discussion," Mr. Medina broke Tristan's thoughts.

It wasn't the first time this had happened to him, but this time he seemed embarrassed. And Rory, instead of being embarrassed just turned and smirked at her boyfriend. 

When Mr. Medina wasn't looking Tristan stuck his tongue out at Rory jokingly and she rolled her eyes. 

Tristan couldn't help it. It was hard concentrating when Rory was sitting a few feet away from him. He had barely been able to keep his eyes off her before they were dating, and now that they were together, all he wanted to do was kiss her, all the damn time. 

He still couldn't really believe Rory was going out with him. She had been so determined not to give in to him at first, he was sure he would never get through to her. 

But that had all changed the night of Madeline's party. He didn't know what had possessed her to let him kiss her, but that kiss had changed everything between them, even if they hadn't realized it yet. 

He remembered why he had asked Summer out in the first place. It was to get over Rory. To stop her from consuming all of his thoughts. He was determined to prove he still had the control. But Summer obviously saw through him and decided to dump him in front of everyone. It was his fault it happened that way really, he needed to prove something to himself, and he couldn't.

And like fate would have it, it had been Rory that came to comfort him. The person who had started the whole thing in the first place. Or maybe it wasn't really fate. It was just like her. Rory would try to make someone feel better, even if they had been the source of annoyance in her life for months, because she was just like that. 

If being sincere and really talking to Rory that one night had resulted in her allowing him to kiss her, he realized that maybe being himself was the way to get Rory to notice him. She wasn't like most girls. Most girls he knew were happy with his charm, his good looks and his money. That was enough for them.

That would never be enough for Rory. She wanted to look at her boyfriend and see the good in him. See what he really was and like him in spite of it. And that was what she was doing with him now. 

With her he felt he could open up. He could be himself without worrying that people will think badly of him. He didn't have to worry that his secrets would be around the school. He could be himself, free of all the pressure to keep up appearances and it felt liberating. 

She made him feel free. Like he could do anything. And as trite as it sounded, he hadn't been that happy in a long time. 

******

"You say I'm the one who can't concentrate, yet Mr. Medina had to call on you three times today," Rory teased as she got into Tristan's car after school.

"What can I say, Ror? I can't concentrate on anything, but you."

Rory rolled her eyes. "You're crazy."

"About you."

"God, the lines just keep on coming."

"They're not lines," Tristan said as he started driving home. "They are completely sincere."

"When you say them with that smirk on your face, they're not sincere."

Tristan wiped the smirk off his face and turned to Rory, keeping an eye on her while driving. "Oh Rory, I can't think of anything else when you're around. I'm crazy about you. Marry me?"

Rory giggled at Tristan's serious expression because she knew he was still kidding. "Just drive Bible boy!"

Tristan laughed. "I can't win with you. You don't like the joking, you don't like the serious. What's a guy to do?"

"What can I say? I'm a tough girl to please."

"Don't I know it."

"Hey!"

******

"Tristan," Rory moaned as he kissed her neck, alternating between gently kissing, nipping and sucking at the skin. 

She couldn't even remember how they ended up making out on the couch of the DuGrey mansion instead of studying like she planned. All she knew was that the minute Tristan pulled her onto his lap and started kissing her; all thought went out of her head. 

Tristan's arm was resting on her waist while she had her arms wrapped around his neck. She had never felt like this before, this need to be closer to him somehow. It was crazy. 

She hadn't done anything more than kiss Dean in the three months of dating him. And here she was on the first proper day as Tristan's girlfriend and she couldn't seem to stop his wandering hands. What was worse was that she didn't really want to stop him.  

Tristan moved away from her neck and kissed her again, causing her to lift up from his lap until she was straddling him. He groaned as her body came flush against his. Her hands moved to his chest, idly touching his shirt buttons. Tristan encouraged her and she slowly started tugging at the buttons, undoing the top couple of buttons before he took over and did the rest before pulling his shirt off. 

Rory ran her hands over his chest and back, feeling the muscles ripple beneath them. 

Tristan moved with her, so she was lying on the couch, his body covering hers, but her legs were still wrapped around him. His hand, which had remained above her clothes until now, slipped underneath her shirt, softly running over her stomach.

He looked up and met her eyes, which were filled with something he had never seen before. Desire and passion. For him. She smiled at him, as if only just realizing what they were doing. 

"Hey…" His voice was so soft, Rory was sure she had never heard it like that before.

His fingers caressed her skin softly as he kissed her again. They lay kissing for a while until Tristan finally let go, pulling them both up into a seating position. Rory was still in his lap and her hands instinctively came around his neck. 

He was drawn to her lips again, even though he was trying to pull away. 

"God, Ror…"

"What?"

"I can't get enough of you," he told her honestly.

Rory blushed, realizing she felt the same way. It was like all other thoughts weren't important when he was near her. The feelings she had for him were just getting stronger. 

She kissed him back, her hands running over his broad shoulders. Finally she pulled away and moved off his lap, as if just realizing she was sitting on him. "We should probably get back to studying, right?" she asked although she wanted to carry on touching him. 

It wasn't like her to do this. To not care about anything but touching him. He made her act so crazy.

"Yeah." He leaned over and ran his hands through her hair, fixing the lose strands.

He picked up his shirt and pulled it on as she started opening her books again. He watched her for a minute wondering if he was dreaming. When she turned and smiled at him, before taking his hand and pulling him onto the floor next to her, he knew she was very much real.

******

Rory was standing in front of her mirror later that evening, looking at what was her first hickey. She hadn't even thought about it when Tristan had been kissing her, but now the evidence of their make out session was clear on her skin. She was planning to wear a white tank top, but now she would have to rethink that since you could see the red mark on her neck very clearly.

"Rory…" Lorelai walked into her daughter's room before Rory could cover herself. "Oh My God, that boy did not give you a hickey!"

"Mom!"

Rory tried to put on a jumper to cover it, but Lorelai would have none of it. "Show me."

"It's nothing."

"It is something if that boy's been sucking on your neck like you're…well something to suck." Lorelai took hold of Rory and inspected the mark. "I thought you were meant to be studying at Tristan's."

"We were," Rory lied. Lorelai just raised her eyebrows. "Mostly. We studied."

"It's a good thing your shirt covers this or you'd have a lot of explaining to do at school."

"I know."

"And don't think I'm cool with this. I am very not cool with this. I know you like this boy Rory, but you've barely just got together and you're already getting hickeys and playing tonsil hockey at every moment."

"We're not. Tristan's not like that." Lorelai just gave her a look. "Okay, he's not always like that. We were just kissing, that's all."

Rory couldn't believe she had to explain herself to her mother. She had never had to explain her actions to her Mom. She never did anything wrong before. 

"I'm starting to regret encouraging this Tristan thing," Lorelai moaned.

"Why?" Rory asked. "He's a good guy, Mom."

"I know," Lorelai admitted. "He's also a lot more experienced that you and boys like that always have certain expectations."

"Tristan's doesn't expect anything," Rory assured her Mom. 

The doorbell rang, ending the conversation. 

"That's Lane," Lorelai said. "She rang to say she was coming over, that's what I was going to tell you."

"Oh, ok."

Lorelai went to answer the door and instructed Lane to go straight to Rory's room.

"What's wrong with your Mom?" Lane asked as she came into Rory's room. "She wasn't as chatty as she usually is."

"She's worried about me dating Tristan."

"Why?" Rory pulled her jumper to the side. "Oh my God, is that a hickey?"

"Yep. Stupid Tristan's lips."

"Yeah I'm sure you were thinking that at the time," Lane joked. "So, how was your first day as Queen of Chilton?" she asked, flopping down on Rory's bed.

"Weird."

"Explain."

"Well Paris apologized for not talking to me lately, only to see me and Tristan kissing and immediately retracted the apology. Then Louise and Madeline and a bunch of girls I don't even know started talking to me. And even a few of Tristan's friends started making conversation with me."

"Tristan really is the King of Chilton, huh?"

"Pretty much. But he doesn't care about all that stuff anymore. He spent most of his free time with me today. And come to think of it, he's been doing that for the past couple of weeks too."

"Now tell me how you got that hickey."

"I went to Tristan's after school to study."

"What were you studying? Biology?" Lane teased.

"No! Yeah, okay, maybe for a little while. But Tristan stopped after a while. The crazy thing is I didn't really want to stop."

"Whoa, Rory, you must really like him."

"I do. It's really weird, but I do. He makes me feel so different. And every time he's near me I feel like all my nerves are aware of him."

"Wow."

"Yeah, that's pretty much how I feel every time he kisses me."

"Well then I have one thing to say to you."

"What?"

"You're in big trouble."

******

The next morning Rory was startled by a horn sounding outside her house. Lorelai looked out of the window and then grinned at her daughter. 

"Looks like you've earned yourself your own taxi service, Ror."

"What?" Rory opened the door just as Tristan approached. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I was bored?" he said nonchalantly.

"Tristan, you did not just drive half an hour out of the way to pick me up for school."

"Well, Rory, since I am here I probably did. And I thought you were supposed to be the smart one," he teased.

He leaned over and kissed her softly and she melted into his touch.

"I am the smart one," she told him. "You didn't have to do this, you know."

"I know. Don't get used to it. I just felt like being spontaneous."

"Okay, let me just get my things," she told him, as she pulled him into her house.

"Hello Ms Gilmore," Tristan said.

"Vampire Boy," Lorelai acknowledged him, and Tristan frowned. "And how many times do I have to remind you its Lorelai. Calling me Ms Gilmore is only going to make me not like you even more."

"You don't like me?" Tristan asked.

"Not so much."

"Let's go," Rory said, quickly intervening before her Mom really started talking.

"But we were just getting started," Lorelai pouted.

"Bye Mom!" Rory called back, as she took Tristan's hand and dragged him out of the house.

"Why doesn't your Mom like me?" Tristan asked.

"Because of this," she pulled aside her shirt quickly and he winced.

"Oops."

"Yes, oops. You and your stupid lips," she told him.

"You didn't think my lips were stupid yesterday," he reminded her with a grin.

"Yeah, well, that was before they resulted in this thing on my neck," she said.

"I think it looks good."

Rory rolled her eyes. "You would."

Almost as soon as they got in the car Tristan pulled Rory closer to him, kissing her properly. She opened up to him, feeling little butterflies build in her stomach.

The butterflies were there every time she was near him lately. But especially when he was kissing her. Yesterday she could have gladly carried on making out with him for hours. She probably wouldn't have wanted to say no to anything he wanted to do, and that scared her. It was Tristan who had pulled away first. And she was grateful for that. But she knew then that the physical pull she felt towards him was only going to get stronger.

Finally Tristan pulled away with a grin. "I never thought I'd have Rory Gilmore making out with me in my car."

Rory blushed, she never thought she would be doing this either. "Well don't get used to it."

******

Rory was sitting in the lunch hall by herself that day when Tristan approached her. She was reading as usual and Tristan thought she looked so cute engrossed in her book. Not wanting to disturb her, he came up behind her, kissed her cheek softly and sat down next to her.

Rory was really surprised that he didn't greet her with his usual annoying comments and decided to take advantage of that and finish the page she was reading before she turned to him. But she had obviously given him too much credit because it wasn't long before she felt a hand come and rest on her thigh.

She shot Tristan a look but he was eating his lunch, not even looking at her. Playing along she carried on reading trying to ignore the feeling his hand was creating. Even through her skirt she could feel the heat from his hand on her skin.

He started running his thumb along her thigh in circles and Rory looked around self consciously, but no one could see what was going on under the table. She tried to carry on reading, but she realized she was reading the same four words over and over again, because she couldn't concentrate. 

She knew he was just trying to get a reaction out of her and didn't want to give in. But when he lifted his hand ever so slightly underneath her skirt she let out a gasp and smacked his hand away.

He laughed, and then turned to kiss her properly. She kissed him back, forgetting that they were in the lunch hall. 

"You're incorrigible," she told him. 

"Yeah, but you like me anyway."

"I loathe you," she said, but the smile on her face gave her away.

"Sure you do, Ror." Tristan smiled. "So, what are we doing tonight?"

"We? Nothing. I, however, am studying."

"We can study together."

"I don't think so," Rory said firmly. "I got next to nothing done yesterday, and in case you didn't notice this school does not take nicely to slacking off."

"We'll be good. I promise."

"You? Good?" Rory started to laugh.

Tristan pretended to look offended. "Are you somehow insinuating that I can't keep my hands to myself?"

"Yep, that's pretty much what I'm saying," Rory agreed. 

"But…"

"Nope. Sorry." He started to pout and Rory just rolled her eyes. "Don't do that. I'm sure you have to study too."

"I'd much rather spend time with you."

Rory smiled. "I know." She kissed him softly. "Maybe tomorrow, though?"

"I guess that will have to do." He got up, getting ready to go. "I have to meet some of the guys. I'll see you after school?"

"You don't have to drop me home all the time, you know. I can get the bus," she insisted.

"I know. But I like dropping you. See you then?"

Rory nodded and he leaned down to kiss her before leaving. She watched him go and realized that Lane was right, she was in big trouble.

******

"Are you sure I can't convince you to let me come inside?" Tristan asked as he pulled up outside Rory's house.

"Nope." She grinned as she leaned over and kissed him softly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"I won't be distracting, I promise," he tried again.

"Your promises don't mean much," Rory teased.

"Rory, I'm shocked. I am nothing if not a man of my word."

"Yeah, yeah." She rolled her eyes. "I'll call you la…" The words died on her lips as she looked at her house and noticed a tall figure standing on her porch. 

Tristan followed her gaze and frowned. "What the hell is he doing here?" he asked.

"I don't know," Rory said honestly. 

"I'm coming with you," Tristan said, not liking the idea of Rory talking to her ex-boyfriend.

Rory rolled her eyes. "Tristan! Don't be ridiculous. You're going to be late to meet your Dad anyway."

"But…"

She leaned over and kissed him again, shutting him up. "Bye," she said as she pulled away, leaving no room for argument.

"I'll call you later," Tristan promised.

Rory got out of the car and watched Tristan's flashy car pull away and drive off before turning to deal with the boy on her doorstep.

"You know, I thought for sure the gossip mill was wrong for once," Dean said, not looking happy.

"Dean I…"

"I was at the market when Kirk started babbling about a flashy car Miss Patty saw this morning. And I ignored it. And then he said some guy came to pick you up. And I thought he must be wrong. And then he described the guy and I didn't know what to think."

"Dean…"

"What, Rory? What can you possibly say to make this okay? You're with HIM? The guy who made your life hell? The guy you used to complain about all the time?"

"You don't know him," Rory defended.

"No, Rory, you don't know him. I know guys like him."

"Guys like him? He's not some stereotype, Dean. He's my friend."

"Your friend?" Dean laughed incredulously. 

"My boyfriend," Rory said, feeling bad as she said it, but knowing she didn't want to lie.

"I don't get it, Rory."

"You dumped me, remember?"

"Because I loved you. I love you. But you obviously felt nothing since you moved right on to the next guy."

Rory felt conflicted. She knew Dean was upset, but she didn't think she deserved to be attacked for the choice she made after he left her.

"I cared about you. I still care about you. But you left me. You refused to talk to me. You wouldn't even be my friend. If you had maybe you would know that Tristan and I became friends. And yes, that friendship has led to something more."

"So, that's it? We're really finished."

"We were finished weeks ago, Dean. You ended it, not me. Don't make me feel guilty for moving on."

Dean sighed. He knew she was right, but he couldn't help feeling like punching something, or someone namely Tristan. 

"I just don't understand."

"You don't have to understand. But you have to accept it."

He nodded, not knowing what else to say. When he planned to come here he was sure Rory would deny it, and prove to him that it was all a lie. But then he saw her with Tristan. He saw her kiss him before she got out of the car and he felt like he had been punched in the gut. But even then, he didn't think she would be like this. So strong in her decision to be with Tristan.

He turned and started to walk away.

"Dean?" Rory called after him. 

"I can't be your friend, Rory."

"Okay."

She watched him walk away, a defeated look on his face. And although she felt guilty for hurting him, a part of her felt some sense of closure. She was closing the door on that first relationship that had been so sweet and innocent, and opening the door to something far scarier and maybe that much more special.

******


	8. Chapter Eight

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the amazingly long wait. I had some trouble finding my muse lately. Thanks for all the reviews and for sticking by this fic. I was very surprised and happy to see it had been nominated at the Proud and Prejudiced Fanfiction Awards so thank you whoever nominated me. It means a lot.   
  
-&-   
  
**Chapter Eight**  
  
After her confrontation with Dean, Rory felt a lot lighter. She felt guilty that breaking his heart made her feel better, but him knowing about Tristan made her feel less guilty for moving on so quickly. She didn't regret how things turned out and she wanted to enjoy being with Tristan instead of worrying about seeing Dean in the street.   
  
She spent the next few weeks enjoying just being with Tristan and getting to know him in a completely different way. He was surprising her more and more every day. Just when she thought she had him figured out, he did or said something that completely surprised her, but in a good way.  
  
As she got to know Tristan better her feelings for him also started to grow. It was a little surprising how much she loved being with him. She didn't remember feeling this happy when she started dating Dean. Tristan stirred all kinds of feelings in her. She had always been good at concentrating, but lately every time she was studying, or watching TV or doing pretty much anything at all really, she would start to think about him.  
  
"Tristan…" Rory laughed as he started kissing his way up her neck. "We're supposed to be studying."  
  
"I am studying," he joked, kissing her again.   
  
They were sitting in Rory's living room, and had been studying. Or Rory had been studying and Tristan had been staring at her. Now he was doing his best to distract her.   
  
She tried not to give in to him, but after a while she couldn't help it and she turned her face and caught his lips in a kiss. Tristan took that as encouragement and deepened the kiss, drawing her closer to him.   
  
This wasn't the first time in the last couple of weeks that they had found themselves in this position and Rory wondered why she had given in to Tristan's pleas to study with her. He clearly wasn't studying and he was doing his best to corrupt her as well. And the really scary thing was Rory was enjoying being corrupted a little too much.  
  
When they finally came up for air Rory was breathing heavily. Tristan grinned at her and she raised her eyebrows.  
  
"What's so funny?" she asked.  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I knew studying with you would be fun."  
  
Rory rolled her eyes and grabbed a pillow from the couch, throwing it at him as she got up. "You are so hopeless. I told you this wasn't a good idea."  
  
"I think it was a great idea."  
  
"You're going to me my downfall," she told him as she walked into the kitchen to put some coffee on. Lorelai would be home soon and she didn't want her to find her and Tristan doing anything suspicious.  
  
"Aww, come on, Rory. A few odd kisses with your extremely gorgeous boyfriend are not going to make Harvard look at you any differently."  
  
"I have a gorgeous boyfriend?" she feigned innocence. "Where?"  
  
"Ha. Ha. You're so funny, Gilmore."  
  
"I think so."  
  
He came up behind her as she started pouring the water and wrapped his arms around her waist. She fit so perfectly against him. He was just holding her and she turned her head to kiss him quickly.  
  
"What are you doing?" she asked.  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"I know. It's so unlike you."  
  
"I just wanted to hold you. Is that so wrong?" he asked, pretending to be offended.  
  
"No."  
  
"Plus I thought if I just held you, you might be impressed with my restraint now and reward me later," he added.  
  
Rory rolled her eyes. "You wish." She shrugged out of his grasp and went to get something from the cupboard.  
  
Lorelai got home at that moment and smiled as soon as she saw the coffee that had just been made.  
  
"Coffee, oh how I love thee," she greeted, ignoring the two actual people in the room.  
  
Tristan just grinned. He had gotten used to Lorelai's antics. In fact he had spent so much time over at the Gilmore's lately Lorelai asked him to start paying rent. She was only joking of course…or at least he thought so, he never could tell with her.  
  
But Rory was glad that her mother had warmed to Tristan a little. She knew all it would take was a few conversations and that boy could charm the socks off of anyone, even her mother.   
  
"What have you guys been doing?" Lorelai asked.  
  
"Studying," Rory answered. Tristan just started grinning and Rory glared at him.   
  
Lorelai noticed and rolled her eyes. It was quite amusing watching Rory and Tristan interact. Tristan reminded Lorelai a lot of herself when she was that age, which was probably why she couldn't help like him. But Rory was different and Lorelai never thought she would fall for someone like Tristan. And she was falling, every day she could see the smile on her daughter's face grow just a little wider. And she was glad because she hated seeing Rory upset.  
  
"Come on, Ror. Let's go study some more," Tristan said as he walked back into the living room.  
  
"Why did him just saying that perfectly innocent sentence fill me with such dread?" Lorelai mused.  
  
Rory smiled. "Relax, Mom."  
  
"Yeah, easy for you to say."  
  
-&-  
  
Rory was working in an empty classroom, trying to get some work done while she had some free time when Tristan walked in.  
  
"Do you ever give it a rest?" he asked, a smile on his face.   
  
"When the teachers stop giving us so much work, I'll stop doing it," she told him.   
  
Tristan took a seat on the row next to her in his usual place. They had English together in the classroom in a few minutes. Rory finished what she was doing and went to put a book back on the shelf. When she headed back to her seat Tristan grabbed her wrist, pulling her onto his lap.  
  
She fell against him as she tried to catch her balance. "Tristan!"  
  
"What?" he asked as he started planting kisses over her face, starting with her cheek and slowly moving to her lips.   
  
"Let me up, someone will walk in," Rory protested, but he didn't let her go. His arms were around her body, but she knew if she really tried she could move them.  
  
He turned her face so he could kiss her properly and she felt her resolve melting. She tried not to kiss him too much in school because it was embarrassing, but sometimes she couldn't resist.   
  
"We…" Rory started, only to be distracted by his kiss. "…Should…" Kiss. "…Really…" Kiss. Kiss. Kiss.  
  
"Really what?" Tristan asked, pulling away just when Rory had completely given in to him.   
  
"You're so annoying," she told him noticing his smirk.   
  
"But you like me anyway," he pointed out.  
  
Rory rolled her eyes as Tristan pulled her close for another kiss. She forgot what she was saying as his lips caressed hers, making her forget where she was.  
  
"Uhum!"  
  
Rory sprang off of Tristan's lap so fast he couldn't help laughing. She sighed with relief when she realized it was Paris who had interrupted them and not Mr. Medina. She was only slightly less embarrassed though.  
  
"You guys really need to get a room," Paris told them.  
  
"We had one," Tristan muttered before turning to greet the intruder. "Nice to see you too, Paris."  
  
Paris just ignored him and took her seat. She had actually been bordering on okay to Rory lately. After the initial shock of finding out Tristan and Rory were together wore off she realized she already knew they would get together eventually. And Paris wasn't the type to let her feelings for a boy get in the way of academic excellence.   
  
Tristan tried to pull Rory back into his lap, but she was having none of it. She took her seat in front of him and he just shrugged. He leaned forward and ran his hands along the bottom of her hair, and then let his fingers brush underneath her hair to the nape of her neck. Rory felt tingles run down her spine as Tristan's fingers caused her mind to numb as she enjoyed the sensation.  
  
"Stop it," she hissed as the other students started to walk into the classroom.   
  
"Why? Am I getting you all flustered?"  
  
"Tristan, I'm serious."  
  
He laughed, pulling his hand away from her. He loved that the innocent of touches seemed to affect her like this.   
  
Rory sighed in her seat. This was going to be a long afternoon.   
  
-&-  
  
"So, are you coming to Chris's party tonight?" Brandon leaned forward in his chair to whisper to Tristan as Mr. Medina spoke to the class.  
  
Tristan unconsciously glanced at Rory, who was actually listening to Mr. Medina before answering. "I don't think so."  
  
"Come on, man, don't tell me the rumors are true."  
  
"What rumors?"  
  
"The ones that say Tristan DuGrey is whipped," Brandon said.  
  
"I am not whipped."  
  
"Yeah, right. You've been missing off the party scene for over a month. I get that you have some weird obsession with the Gilmore chick, but you've got her now. The chase is over. Time for life to resume as normal."  
  
"I am acting like normal."  
  
"The Tristan I know would never pass up a party for a girl. Especially if he wasn't getting any."  
  
"Yeah, well, maybe I've grown up a bit."  
  
"Or your little girlfriend has you wrapped around her finger."  
  
Tristan glared at his friend. "She has not."  
  
"Prove it."  
  
"By coming to this party? That doesn't prove anything except that I let an idiot like you get to me," Tristan told him.  
  
"All I'm saying is I see you changing a hell of a lot to be with her. I don't see her changing at all."  
  
"She doesn't need to change."  
  
"Neither do you," Brandon said seriously. "Why don't you bring her tonight? Who knows, she may even have fun."  
  
"Rory? At Chris's party? I don't think so."  
  
"What? She's too good to hang out with us?"  
  
"Actually, yeah." Tristan grinned. "Fine. I'll ask her."  
  
_cough_"Whipped."_cough_  
  
Tristan glanced at Mr. Medina before using his book to hit Brandon over the head.   
  
-&-  
  
Although Tristan tried not to let it, what Brandon had said really got to him. He wasn't whipped, right? Sure he had been spending a lot of time with Rory lately, and he may have stopped going to parties with his friends, but that didn't make him whipped, it just made him sensible. The parties were fun and everything, but they weren't really designed for guys who had girlfriends. Or girlfriends they didn't want to cheat on at least.   
  
But he did kind of miss it. Brandon was right; he hadn't spent much time with his friends in a month. He had been too busy spending time with Rory. Not that he minded of course, but he realized that he was making Rory his whole world. If he ever lost her he'd be left with no one. And he really didn't want that to happen.  
  
And it wasn't like the guys he used to hang out with were all jerks. There were some good guys that went to Chilton with him and if Rory got to know them she would agree.   
  
There was no reason he couldn't spend time with his friends and Rory, though. If she was a part of his life, she would have to get to know his friends eventually. He'd spent time in her town, hung out with Lane a couple of times, and even her Mom. It was only natural that she did the same.   
  
"Here," Rory said, handing him some papers as class ended.  
  
"What's this?" Tristan asked.  
  
"My notes. You were so not paying attention today. What's wrong?" she asked as they headed out together.   
  
Tristan just smiled. He loved that she actually noticed him now. She cared if something was bothering him, and she was ready with her notes without him even having to ask. Not that he would have asked anyway, not having notes didn't tend to bother him too much.  
  
"Nothing's wrong. I just can't concentrate with you two feet away from me," he said, putting the charm on.  
  
Rory rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't put this on me," she warned. "I don't want to be responsible for you failing."  
  
"It's too late for that, babe." He put his arm around her shoulder as they started walking together.   
  
"So, what's the plan for tonight?" she asked.  
  
"Well, it's only Friday night, are you sure you don't have some urgent work to do?"   
  
Rory hit him as he teased her. "Shut up."  
  
"I love it when you get feisty." Tristan laughed. "Anyway, you know Chris McIntyre, he's having a party tonight."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"We could go?" he suggested. "It might be fun."  
  
"I doubt it." She saw his smile drop a little and quickly carried on. "But you could go. It's fine with me. Not that you need my permission or anything."  
  
"I don't want to go without you."  
  
"Tristan, I don't do Chilton parties."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I just don't."  
  
"They're not that bad. If I recall correctly it was a Chilton party that started this whole thing between us."  
  
"Exactly why I fear them," Rory joked.   
  
"Ha. Ha," Tristan deadpanned. "I promise you won't end up running out in tears this time. Please?" He started to pout, in that really sexy way that used to annoy her, but now just made her smile.   
  
Then he slowly pulled her body against his, his lips brushing against hers teasingly until he kissed her properly. She melted against his touch, forgetting what they were talking about. When he pulled away and gave her 'the eyes' again she just sighed.   
  
"God, I am too easy!"  
  
"I wish," he joked earning him a whack on his arm. "Kidding!"  
  
She rolled her eyes. "I have a feeling I'm going to regret this."  
  
-&-  
  
"You're going to a party? Rory Gilmore? My daughter? Of her own free will? When she is not under emotional stress?"  
  
Rory rolled her eyes. It wasn't really her own free will. Once Tristan gave her 'the look' and kissed her slowly, drawing her in to him she pretty much forgot about her own free will. Damn him.   
  
She couldn't really tell her mother that though, so she improvised. "Yes. I am a normal teenager, incase you hadn't noticed." Lorelai raised her eyebrows. "Okay, so it might have taken a lot of convincing." Not as much as Lorelai might think, but still a little.   
  
"I don't know if I should be worried, or happy."  
  
"Happy. Let's stick to happy."   
  
"Well, I'm all for fun and parties, but are you even going to enjoy yourself? This doesn't sound like something you would like."  
  
"Won't know until I try," Rory said, repeating what Tristan had said to her earlier.  
  
"True. But that doesn't include things like sex, drugs and drink. Those things you don't need to try."  
  
Rory rolled her eyes. "Mom, why are you acting like I've lost my mind or something?"  
  
"You're dating Tristan DuGrey, anything is possible."  
  
Rory laughed. "Well, I draw the line at that."  
  
The doorbell rang and Rory smiled instantly. Lorelai just rolled her eyes. "Speak of the devil."  
  
Rory continued putting last minute touches to her outfit while Lorelai went to answer the door. A couple of minutes later Tristan appeared in her room. He stood, leaning against the doorframe, watching her for a couple of minutes.  
  
Rory knew he was watching, but ignored him, pretending not to care that he was in her room.   
  
"Glad to see my presence has such an affect on you."  
  
Rory glanced at him, pretending to only just notice him. "Oh, you're here."  
  
Tristan laughed and came inside, subtly closing the door behind him.   
  
"My Mom is home you know."  
  
"I know."   
  
He walked up to her, clearly showing her he didn't really care about Lorelai being around. He pulled her into his arms and leaned down, capturing her lips in a slow sensual kiss.   
  
Rory's heart rate was racing by the time his lips left hers. "Hi," she said, smiling at him.  
  
"Hey. You ready?"  
  
"As I'll ever be."  
  
"You act like I'm dragging you to hell or something."  
  
"Well…"  
  
"Let's go Gilmore, before I change my mind and ravish you right here and now."  
  
"And my mother would so appreciate that."  
  
-&-  
  
Tristan parked the car and turned off the engine. The party was already in full swing, the loud music could be heard clearly from inside the car. "If you really don't want to go in, we don't have to."  
  
"No. I'm good," Rory assured him.  
  
"You sure?" Tristan asked again.   
  
Rory was fidgeting in her seat and playing with her hands and something was definitely bothering her.  
  
"I'm sure." She smiled before leaning over and kissing him.   
  
What was supposed to be a quick reassuring kiss turned into something more as Tristan's arms came around her waist pulling her closer to him. His tongue quickly sought entrance into her mouth and she felt herself giving in to the desire to touch him.  
  
The knock on Tristan's window brought them back to reality and they pulled away from each other. Tristan muttered some curses before rolling his window down.   
  
"What?!" he practically shouted at the intruder, who happened to be Brandon.  
  
"Is this a private party or can anyone join in?" Brandon smirked.  
  
"What do you want, Brand?"  
  
"Just reminding you that the party's _inside_ the house," he said pointedly.  
  
"I think I prefer this party."  
  
"Come on, man. Everyone's waiting for you."  
  
"I'll be there. Now get lost."  
  
Brandon laughed. "Hey Rory," he called over Tristan's shoulder.   
  
Rory smiled at him, feeling more and more embarrassed. "Uh, hi."  
  
Tristan rolled his window back up as Brandon left. "Sorry bout that. Now where were we?"  
  
He tried to pull Rory back to him, but she pulled away. "We should go in."  
  
"I think I prefer making out with you in the front seat," Tristan joked.   
  
"Yeah well, we can do that any time."  
  
"We can?" he asked, suddenly grinning. "You do realize you can't take that back."  
  
Rory rolled her eyes. "Let's go." She turned to open her door.  
  
"Wait." Rory turned back to him. "I just want to tell you that this party isn't really like Madeline's party. Chris is known for throwing some really wild parties because his parents are always out of town. It's pretty wild."  
  
"I think I can handle it."  
  
"Okay. Good."   
  
They got out of the car and started walking towards the party. Tristan pulled her close to him and Rory wrapped her arm around Tristan's waist.   
  
She was slightly worried about this party. Normally she didn't care about anyone at Chilton or what they thought of her. She wasn't popular and she didn't mind. She was at Chilton to get the best education she could and to hopefully secure her place at Harvard so whether or not people liked her never bothered her before.  
  
But Tristan had become important to her, and she wanted to fit into his life. She wanted his friends to like her. She didn't want to make him choose between her and his friends. And she knew that he had been.   
  
When they walked into the party Rory was actually surprised. Tristan wasn't kidding about this party being nothing like Madeline's. Madeline's party was somewhat organized and respectable. This party was crazy. The music was so loud, people she barely recognized were dancing on any available surface, including some tables, and most of them looked so drunk that they would probably not even remember the party the next day. Yes, it was the wasted youth of America.   
  
"Tristan, who are these people?"  
  
"I don't know," Tristan said. "Don't worry, Chris doesn't really care who turns up."  
  
They made their way through the crowd and had to keep stopping when Tristan bumped into someone he knew. Rory held onto his hand tightly, for fear of losing him. They walked through the house to a back room that was a bit quieter than the rest of the house. It had a pool table and some large couches.  
  
"Tristan. You made it."   
  
A tall guy, with spiky black hair greeted Tristan. He was in the middle of a game of pool, the cue in one hand and a cigarette in the other.   
  
"You've outdone yourself, Chris."  
  
"Yeah well, someone's got to give these people something to do on a Friday night," Chris said before turning to Rory and smiling at her. "You must be Rory. It's a pleasure to finally meet you properly."  
  
"Likewise."  
  
Rory was introduced to a few more of Tristan's friends who seemed nice enough.   
  
"So, what do you say to a game of pool, Tristan?"  
  
"Do you really want to lose that badly?"  
  
"Stop trying to bullshit in front of your girl, DuGrey. You know you can't beat me."  
  
Rory smiled inwardly at the boy's behavior. What was with all the make macho posturing?  
  
"I guess I'm just going to have to prove you wrong."  
  
Tristan turned to Rory and she smiled before kissing him softly. "Go ahead."  
  
She took a seat on one of the sofas by the pool table with a few of Tristan friends and watched as Tristan and Chris played together. Rory watched him curiously, noticing the difference in him when he was with his friends. He was such a typical guy sometimes, but instead of finding it annoying, she found it to be cute. And she could see that Tristan was happy and enjoying himself.  
  
Half an hour later Tristan was standing smugly by the pool table grinning at Chris. "What was that you said, Chris? I couldn't beat you?"  
  
Rory laughed as she got up and went over to Tristan. "Okay, Tristan, no one likes a show off."  
  
Tristan turned to her, pulling her into his arms. "But you like me," he teased.  
  
"I don't know. I'll have to think about that."  
  
"Liar."  
  
Tristan grinned at her as he lead her to the middle of the house which was the designated dance floor. They danced for ages and Rory had to admit she was having a pretty good time. She had spoken to some of Tristan's friends and they didn't seem so bad. People were actually talking to her and they actually seemed genuine. And best of all she was with Tristan and he was in a really good mood.   
  
It was a few hours later when Tristan and Rory found themselves in a corner of the house. Tristan was sitting on a bean bag chair and Rory was in his lap for lack of anywhere else to sit.   
  
"So, this isn't so bad is it?"  
  
"Well, not for me. But I just wonder if Stacy Hargrove is going to remember her own name tomorrow," Rory pointed out. Stacy had passed out minutes before.  
  
"Never mind her. As long as you're having fun."  
  
"I am," Rory assured him. "I just don't know how you do this all the time. It's giving me a headache."  
  
"That's 'cause you're not used to it. But you're right, it does get old after a while. But I guess we just don't know how to do things small."  
  
"That's an understatement, I don't even recognize half the people here."  
  
Tristan grinned. "Well that's because you don't notice people unless they get in your face and harass you for six months."  
  
Rory laughed. "So, is that what that was? Trying to get me to notice you?"  
  
"Yep. And it worked I see."  
  
Rory rolled her eyes. "A simple 'Hi my name's Tristan' would have worked too. And lending me your notes instead of leering at me would have been a bonus."  
  
Tristan laughed. "Okay, I admit I was misguided."  
  
"Just a little."   
  
Rory laughed, leaning in to kiss Tristan softly. As her lips touched his she felt herself lost in his world. There was no quick kisses with Tristan because once his lips touched hers everything else seemed to fade away. His tongue caressed hers and she felt herself drinking him in.   
  
She pulled away breathlessly and noticed Tristan's eyes were staring back at her, full of something that made her blush. The look in his eyes was so powerful. She could see how much he wanted her in just his look.   
  
"Rory I…" Tristan started to say something but was cut off when someone called his name.  
  
"Tristan!" Rory and Tristan both looked up suddenly at the intrusion. It was Chris. "We've got a bet going on over here and we need your input like now."  
  
Tristan sighed. Couldn't people see he was busy? Rory laughed at Tristan's expression.   
  
"Go. I'll catch you in a bit. I'm just going to find a bathroom."  
  
"You sure?" Tristan asked, clearly not wanting to leave her alone.  
  
"Yes!" she stressed. "You don't have to stay with me all the time."  
  
"Ever think I want to stay with you?"  
  
Rory smiled. "I'll meet you in the back." She kissed him quickly and then stood up.  
  
Tristan watched her leave and wondered if maybe Brandon was right. Maybe he was whipped. But when he was with Rory he didn't really care. She was amazing and she was actually with him. Nothing else seemed to matter.  
  
-&-  
  
Rory managed to find the bathroom quite easily, although it was more like the size of her living room than a bathroom. It was so spacious and beautifully decorated she almost felt bad that it would be destroyed by people throwing up in it, as they surely would do after the amount they had been drinking.   
  
She started to make her way through the crowds of people back to Tristan when someone stopped her by coming in front of her and blocking her path.   
  
"Rory," the guy said. She recognized him as Adam Freeman, one of the guys she had been introduced to earlier while she and Tristan had been dancing. He had been a little drunk then, but now he looked extremely pissed.  
  
"Uh, hi."  
  
"Where are you going? You want to dance?"  
  
"Uh, no, thanks. I'm just going to meet Tristan."  
  
Adam leered at her, his alcohol breath too close for comfort. Rory tried to take a step back but he just came closer.   
  
"He won't mind," Adam assured her. "We share all the time. I'm sure once Tristan's had a go he won't mind…"  
  
Rory glared at him disgustedly. "I really have to go now." She tried to walk past him, but he blocked her way again. "Listen, Adam, I really just want to find Tristan so please let me go."  
  
For a second Adam seemed to move out of her way so Rory started to leave, but suddenly Adam grabbed her arm and turned her again.   
  
"What's so great about Tristan?" he muttered.  
  
Rory didn't get a chance to answer because Tristan seemed to appear out of nowhere and punched Adam straight in the face, causing him to fall on the floor. The music suddenly stopped and everyone turned to Tristan and Rory.  
  
"Are you okay?" Tristan asked Rory.  
  
Rory nodded. "You didn't have to hit him," she mumbled.  
  
"See?" Adam spoke up, having heard her. "I wasn't doing anything wrong. You never had a problem sharing before, DuGrey. What's so great about her? Or is she just off limits until you get what you want?"  
  
Tristan was about to lunge at Adam again when Rory suddenly stood in front of him, blocking his path. "I want to go home, Tristan. Now."  
  
Tristan clenched his fist, trying to get his anger back in control as he nodded at Rory. She turned and walked out, knowing that he would follow her.  
  
Tristan turned back to Adam. "Stay away from her, Freeman. And don't ever talk to me again," he said before following Rory outside.  
  
-&-  
  
Rory and Tristan had gotten in the car in silence and had been driving for a few minutes before Rory spoke up. She knew Tristan was angry so she had wanted to give him time to calm down.  
  
"How's your hand?" she asked finally.  
  
"Not as bad as his face."  
  
"You know, violence never solves anything."  
  
"The guy was coming onto you, Ror."  
  
"And I would have handled it," she assured him. "You don't have to treat me like a china toy you know. I won't break."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Do you? Because sometimes I wonder."  
  
Although she didn't particularly like being leered out by random guys it kind of bothered her how quickly Tristan came to her rescue as if she couldn't take care of herself. And she hated guys fighting, especially over her.  
  
"I just worry."  
  
"Tristan, you of all people should know that I can take care of myself. If anything Adam was just a drunk version of you in Chilton."  
  
Tristan glared at her. "I would never grab you like he did."  
  
Rory sighed, realizing she had said the wrong thing. "Okay, you're right, you wouldn't. Probably because you know that I'd kick your ass," she teased, trying to make him smile.  
  
It worked, at least momentarily. "About what he said…" Tristan started but Rory cut him off.  
  
"I trust you. You don't have to explain anything."  
  
"I would never do that to you, Ror," he said seriously, needing her to believe him. He needed her to know that he wasn't with her for sex.  
  
"I know."  
  
Tristan had a reputation and she knew it. But she also knew half of it wasn't true, and the half that was just wasn't him anymore. She knew in her heart that she could trust him. She didn't know what made her so sure, but something told her that he cared about her, and that was good enough for her.  
  
"Maybe we're not meant to mix social circles," he suggested after a while.  
  
"I think that would be wise."  
  
"Besides, with you there all I could think about with kissing you. I could care less about everyone else."  
  
Rory laughed. "I told you to go without me."  
  
"Well, then I would just be thinking about you."  
  
"You're hopeless."  
  
"No, we're hopeless."  
  
-&- 


	9. Chapter Nine

**Author's Note:** Okay, so once again sorry for the massive wait. I don't really have an excuse except that my muse hates me. Big thanks to Nat for beta-ing and Janine for being my brain and getting me over my paranoia....sort of.

-&-

Tristan lay on the couch at the Gilmore house watching his girlfriend who was sitting on the floor, her school books surrounding her. She was studying while he was studying her. Of course. He couldn't help it; she just looked so damn cute.

He was fighting the urge to reach out and touch her. It was hard, but he didn't want to move too fast with Rory. He knew she had very little experience with guys, and he didn't want her to assume he was just in this relationship for sex. But every time he was near her, he found it hard to let go. Every time she touched him he wanted to do nothing more than to show her exactly what she did to him.

Rory was starting to notice though. There was this frustration on his face that he couldn't quite contain. He was a sixteen year old boy after all; it wasn't too hard to figure out that he had urges. But it wasn't his urges she was worried about, it was her own. Every time she was with him she seemed to lose all her inhibitions and just followed his lead. Tristan made her feel safe, like she was allowed to be as close to him as she wanted without feeling embarrassed. She forgot about the fact that he had been with girls who were much more experienced than her, because he made it seem like she was the only one he ever wanted. She craved his touch, wanting more every time he came close.

And this was just so wrong. She wasn't ready to have sex. She was not even supposed to be thinking about having sex while still in High School, that fact had been drummed into her head since she was old enough to know what sex was. And she had been okay with that. Until now.

So, the fact that she was even thinking about it with Tristan scared her. She had never thought about it with Dean. Dean never even gave her the impression that he wanted that.

But Tristan was different. Every little sigh, or moan, or sound out of Tristan when they were making out let Rory know that he was thinking about it. In fact every time he looked at her, she knew he was thinking about it.

And it actually made her feel good. She felt wanted. And it was a good feeling. And she wanted him too, so much. But then that voice in her head would come back again, telling her that this wasn't her and that she knew the consequences of doing this. Her head and her heart were in conflict every time she was with Tristan. It had never been this complicated with Dean.

But the complication didn't stop her enjoying her time with Tristan. They had a lot of fun every time they were together. He had taken her out quite a few times, and they'd talk and kiss, and it would be perfect. She felt herself growing more and more attached to him every day.

"Tristan..." She turned her head to smile at the blonde.

"Yes, Mary?"

"Stop staring at me and get down here and study," she said, trying to be stern.

"I'd much prefer it if you would get up here so I can continue studying you," he teased.

Rory rolled her eyes at him, but didn't stop him when he reached over and pulled her up onto the couch. She landed awkwardly, her body half covering his. Tristan wasn't complaining. He pulled her up properly, wrapping his arm around her waist and bringing her body tight against his as his lips sought hers out.

Rory got lost in the kiss; everything that she had been studying for the last hour disappearing from her mind until all there was left was the feel of Tristan's lips.

"Tristan..." She pulled away, lifting her head to look at him. "My Mom could be home any minute."

"No way, she's at Luke's, you know how they are."

"But..."

"Stop thinking so much, Rory," he commanded.

And then he flipped them over quickly so that Rory was trapped beneath him leaving her no choice but to give in to his touch.

-&-

Summer was fast approaching and Rory got busy studying for finals. Tristan was always there to distract her, but it ended up backfiring on him because she decided she would make him study too, by offering him rewards afterwards. Tristan liked this plan so he studied almost as hard as she did. It wasn't like he wasn't clever or couldn't study, but he just didn't take it as seriously as Rory. He would much rather be enjoying his rewards than spending a perfectly beautiful day inside studying.

"Come on Tristan, this isn't so hard. I'll let you do anything you want if you get it right," Rory promised one afternoon.

They were sitting in the DuGrey mansion study, going over the material for their English final which was coming up. Tristan was purposely being difficult, because he just couldn't concentrate anymore. Although a lot of the time Rory's own drive was really inspiring, most of the time her mere presence was just a complete distraction. But if he didn't agree to study with her, he'd never get to see her.

"Anything?" he repeated, a mischievous glint in his eye.

Rory suddenly felt like she was setting herself up to get in trouble, but couldn't back down now. "Yes, anything."

"The answer's Emily," he said quickly, dropping his pen and grabbing Rory's hand.

"What? You knew it already?"

"Of course I did." Tristan laughed, pulling Rory up from her seat. She wanted to be angry at him, but she was used to him by now. And it made her smile.

"Tristan...we have to finish this," she tried to protest.

"You said I could have anything I want."

"Yeah, that was before you cheated."

"I did not cheat!" Tristan lied.

"You already knew the answer," she reminded him.

"So? You promised. I want my reward now," he told her, and didn't listen to another word of protest as he took her upstairs to his bedroom.

Rory laughed to herself. It was typical that Tristan's reward would somehow involve going up to his bedroom. Did that boy think of nothing else? Or the real question was, did she even mind?

He quickly made his bed haphazardly and then gestured for her to sit. "Okay, what is it you want?" Rory asked.

"I want you to relax for half an hour and take a real break," he told her and Rory was surprised. "Lie down," he instructed. She frowned at him, but complied, lying on one side of his bed. He came around the other side and lay next to her.

She turned to face him, propping her head up on one hand, and he did the same.

"I guess I've been a little stressed out this week," she admitted.

"Just a little," he teased. "You were starting to sound like Paris."

Rory gasped. "Take that back." She hit him lightly and he just laughed.

"Well okay, not Paris, because no one can reach those levels of scary, but you were getting close."

He leaned over and kissed her softly and she relaxed into his touch. He was right; she had been getting stressed out lately. But it was different for her. At Stars Hollow High she could take her classes and breeze through the exams pretty effortlessly. Chilton, however, was a different story. She had to work hard to catch up and prove she belonged there. She had had a hard enough time fitting in socially, but she didn't mind about that. She needed to fit in academically, that was most important to her. Being with Tristan had made life at school a lot more pleasant lately, but it didn't mean the work wasn't still hard.

But all thought of school and exams seemed to fly out of her mind as Tristan kissed her, his touch the only thing she was thinking about.

Tristan pulled back a little and started to undo the buttons on Rory's shirt. He did it slowly, silently asking her permission, and she nodded, letting him take control. It was weird that she was so willing to put herself in his hands. She had always liked being in control of things around her, but when Tristan was there, she liked letting him guide her.

When Tristan finished with the buttons, Rory lifted up so he could pull her shirt off her shoulders. He leaned down and kissed her flat stomach, and then moved upwards. His kisses were feather light, but they were causing havoc on her senses. His lips moved just above her right breast, kissing the area softly and then moving to the other side.

He moved back up to her kissing her again softly. She looked into his eyes and she could see how much he wanted her. She had never seen anyone look at her the way Tristan did and it scared her.

"Rory..." His voice was hoarse, filled with desire.

"Yeah?"

"I want you so badly," he admitted.

"I want you too, Tristan," she told him seriously. "I just haven't ever..." she trailed off feeling embarrassed.

"Hey..." He turned her face to look at him. "I care about you, okay? We don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with."

Rory smiled. "I don't really know what I'm doing. You've been with all these experienced girls and..."

"Where did you hear that?"

"Girls talk."

"They do, huh? Well, you shouldn't always believe what you hear in the girl's bathroom," he teased. "Isn't that the first rule of journalism or something?"

She laughed. "I guess so."

"Rory...I don't care about the other girls. They're my past. And there wasn't as many as you probably think. Do they bother you?"

"Not really," Rory said. It wasn't like she didn't know that Tristan had been with plenty of girls before. But she was scared that she would pale in comparison to them. "I just don't want to be compared to them."

"Trust me; you won't be. You're the only one I care about."

She knew he was telling the truth. She knew it in the way he spoke to her. She knew it in the way he kissed her. She knew it because she knew him.

"I'm scared," she admitted.

"I won't hurt you," he promised.

"I trust you." Hearing her say that was such a huge relief to him. Because he knew she was telling the truth. She really did trust him. "It's myself I don't trust."

Tristan laughed. "Well as long as you trust me, we should be okay."

He kissed her again and all conversation was forgotten.

-&-

After they talked about it, Tristan was more willing to take chances when they were together. He knew she wasn't ready to have sex yet and that was fine with him. It didn't stop him wanting her every single day, but he wasn't in this relationship for sex. It was so much more than that. But that didn't mean he couldn't show Rory there was so much more they could do without having to go that far.

Rory was a little hesitant at first, but all reason seemed to fly out of her mind the minute Tristan touched her. He was so addictive and she felt herself falling for him more and more each day.

That was why her face seemed to light up when Tristan approached her and Paris in the library one day.

"Hey you," he greeted, taking a seat next to her.

Paris who had been sitting on the other side of Rory just rolled her eyes, annoyed at being disturbed when she and Rory were studying.

"Hey," Rory smiled back, leaning forward and accepting Tristan's kiss.

"What you doing?" Tristan asked, picking up Rory's book and glancing at the cover. "Besides dreaming about your wonderful boyfriend."

Paris made a noise from next to Rory, but Tristan just ignored her. "I hate to break it to you, but at the moment passing the history final is all I'm dreaming about," Rory told him.

"You're one strange girl, you know that?"

"Yep. You've told me many times before. Although I'm dating you so I think everyone knows I'm strange."

Tristan laughed. "Ha. Ha. You're so funny, Gilmore"

"I try."

"I can't wait for this week to be over," Tristan commented. "No more school."

"No more making out in the hallway," Rory added.

"Damn. I am going to miss that."

"I thought so." She grinned.

"But we can spend every day together."

"Like you don't already," Paris muttered, loud enough for them to hear.

"We can go away for a weekend too, if you want," Tristan suggested, ignoring Paris.

"Yeah, good luck with trying to get permission for that one," Rory joked.

"Come on, Ror. Your Mom is cool."

"Do you not remember the hundred ways she was plotting your murder when she walked in on us last week?" Rory reminded him quietly. "I'm still avoiding her a little."

It was true; Lorelai had walked in on Rory and Tristan when they had been alone in Rory's bedroom. They weren't really doing anything...except Tristan seemed to have lost his shirt; luckily Rory was still fully dressed so it hadn't been too bad.

"Oh yeah," Tristan remembered. "Well I'm just going to have to sneak you away."

"Rory..." Paris interrupted. "As entertaining as this is, we really need to study."

"Right. Sorry, Paris," she apologized. "You go," she told Tristan. "We'll talk about this later."

"But..." She leaned forward and kissed him, effectively ending his protests. "I'll meet you after school," she promised.

Tristan kissed her once more, before finally getting up and leaving. Rory watched him leave, a head-in-the-clouds expression on her face.

"Rory!" Paris nudged her, irritably.

"Sorry."

-&-

"So..." Lorelai appeared at Rory's door that evening.

"So?" Rory turned to her mother, knowing there was something on her mind.

"You and Tristan seem to be getting very serious lately..." she continued as she came inside the room and sat on the bed.

"Define serious," she said casually.

Rory was sitting at her desk doing some homework, but turned her attention to her mother. She knew Lorelai had wanted to talk to her about Tristan all week, so she had been expecting this. It didn't make it any less uncomfortable though. And she hated that because she had never been uncomfortable talking to Lorelai about anything.

"You spend a lot of time together," Lorelai explained lamely.

"Mom, if you want to ask me something, please do it."

"It's nothing. I'm just trying to get a feel of what you're thinking. We haven't talked much about Tristan in a while."

"Probably because you don't like him," Rory shot back.

"I like him. I do. I just don't like him touching you..." Lorelai told her. She was only half joking. She did like Tristan, it was just seeing her daughter fall for him so badly, and then the worry of her moving too fast and making the same mistakes she did was always there. She didn't want that for Rory.

Rory rolled her eyes at her mother. "You didn't mind Dean this much."

"I never found you and Dean making out all over the place," Lorelai countered. "Dean respected you too much to do that."

"Tristan respects me," Rory quickly said. "He respects me a lot. We don't do anything I don't want to do. And this is still a little weird..."

"What?"

"Talking to you about this..."

"About what?" Lorelai asked, purposely being difficult.

"You know...sex," Rory muttered.

"Right," Lorelai took a deep breath, as if reminding herself that she was really having this conversation. She didn't want to be her mother and push Rory away. But she also didn't want her sixteen year old daughter to even think about having sex yet. "You're not...having it...right?"

"Of course not!" Rory said quickly.

"But you're thinking about it?" Rory paused for a second and that was enough for Lorelai. "Oh my God, you're thinking about it." She started pacing, muttering to herself. "God, Rory, why did I ever tell you to date this boy? No, wait, never mind. I remember what it was like to be sixteen, it wasn't that long ago. Maybe we should put you on the pill."

"What?" Rory exclaimed.

"Trust me, Rory. It's better to be safe than..."

"Mom!" Lorelai stopped pacing and looked at her daughter. "Tristan and I are not having sex. Not now, and not anytime soon. Trust me. I know you think Tristan is the type of guy who'd pressure me, just because he has some experience, but he's not like that at all."

"I don't think that." Lorelai protested, but Rory just raised her eyebrows. "Okay, maybe a little, but can you blame me?"

"Yes. You have to trust him. And you have to trust that I know what I'm doing."

"I do trust you. I trust you with my life. But then I remember myself and your Dad at that age. We were in love and nothing else seemed to matter."

"Yeah, well I may love Tristan, but I'm not going to just jump into anything," she told her mother, not even realizing that she had used the L word.

"Rory..." Lorelai said, stopping their previous discussion. "You just said you love him."

"What? No, I didn't," Rory said, and then tried to remember what she had said. "Did I?"

"You did," Lorelai confirmed. She didn't know whether she was happy about this fact or not. She knew Rory had had trouble saying it to Dean, and if she really did love Tristan, she was worried that would cloud her judgment when making important decisions.

"It was a slip," Rory said quickly, getting freaked out herself. It had only been about four months ago that she hadn't been able to tell Dean she loved him, and now she was saying it about Tristan?

"Right," Lorelai didn't seem convinced. "You know, you don't have to feel guilty."

"Why would I feel guilty?"

"Because you couldn't say it to Dean. But you're saying it to Tristan."

"I'm not saying it to Tristan. I didn't mean...It just came out."

"That's usually your hearts way of just dumping a big fat revelation on you," Lorelai told her.

Rory sighed. This was way too confusing. One minute she's discussing sex with her mother and then she's letting it slip that she had actually gone and fallen in love with Tristan DuGrey. Was she in the twilight zone?

"But..." Lorelai continued. "Just because you love him, doesn't mean you're ready."

"I know that," Rory said. "I promise I'll be careful. Tristan and I are fine. You don't need to worry about us," Rory assured her mom. "Now I'm kind of tired so..."

"Right," Lorelai got up and headed for the door. "Are you sure you don't want to go on the pill?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. But thanks, Mom."

Lorelai smiled. "See you in the morning."

"Night."

As soon as her mother left the room Rory went to her bed and fell back on it. Did she really love Tristan? She always thought love was such a huge thing, that it couldn't happen just like that.

She had liked Dean a lot, but she had never been able to tell him she loved him. Was it because she didn't get the chance or was it because she was never meant to love Dean? Was Dean's place in her life just as her first boyfriend, nothing more?

She never thought she'd fall in love with Tristan, but now she wasn't sure. She loved spending time with him. She missed him when he wasn't around. She knew his faults, but still cared about him. He made her laugh. And he really cared for her. He treated her really well.

Could love just be a culmination of all these things, or was it just a gut feeling? The feeling of not being able to live without someone. When Dean had broken up with her she had been heartbroken, but she had moved on. If Tristan left her, she didn't think she could move on. She had shared her entire self, mind and body with him, that letting go of that would hurt more than she could bear.

Was this love?

Did it just creep up on her out of nowhere? No, that wasn't true. It had been building from the very first time they had kissed. The past four months had been a rollercoaster ride for their relationship, but this is where she was now. In love with Tristan DuGrey.

Knowing she wouldn't be able to sleep without talking to him, Rory picked up the cordless phone which had been left in her room and dialed the familiar number.

"H'lo?" His sexy drawl came over the phone.

"Hey good looking," Rory said, with a fake girly accent.

"Hi..." Tristan answered, not recognizing the voice at first.

"I was hoping you'd want to hook up tonight. If you know what I mean," she continued. She wanted to laugh, because she was sure Tristan could figure out it was her.

"You know, I'd love to, but I'm actually a taken man," Tristan explained.

"Oh really? That's a shame. But I'm sure what she won't know, won't hurt her, right?" Rory carried on curious as to what he would say next.

"It would hurt me. Because I care about this girl very very much," he said. "Even if she does call me up and try to check on me."

Rory laughed, her voice returning to normal. "Okay, you got me."

"Pretty much from the 'hey good looking'," Tristan told her.

He was rather amused at Rory's behavior. She surprised him more and more each day. She was so much fun to be around.

"Damn. I'll have to work on disguising my voice a little better," she said. "Anyway I just called to let you know I suffered a major embarrassment because of you."

"Oh yeah? What happened? And why is it automatically my fault?" he asked. "You just love putting all the blame on me."

"Well it wouldn't have happened if you kept your hands to yourself for five minutes."

"But I like not keeping them to myself." Tristan grinned. "What happened anyway?"

"I just had _the_ talk with my mother."

Tristan frowned. "What talk?"

"You know, the S-E-X talk."

"Oh," Tristan laughed. "But we're not..."

"...having it, I know," Rory finished. "But since you have that shady 'I want to eat you' look every time you're near me, she's a little worried."

Tristan laughed. "It's not my fault you look good enough to eat."

Rory rolled her eyes, but truthfully it was the little things like that just made her love him more.

"So, what did she say?" Tristan asked.

"Don't have it," Rory joked.

"That would be a lot easier if you were even a little ugly," he joked back. "But you have to go and be beautiful on top of smart and interesting."

"Now you're just buttering me up. What do you want?"

"You," he said easily. "Why do you find it hard to believe I'm just being nice?"

"Because you're never nice," she told him.

"Oh really? When have I ever not been nice?"

She rolled her eyes at his selective memory. "Tristan, you called me names for six months."

"But it was in the name of love," he joked.

There was that word again. Thrown into the conversation casually. Had it not been for her own slip a little while ago she probably wouldn't have noticed it. But now she noticed. Because she was starting to realize that maybe it hadn't just been a slip.

"Rory?" Tristan said, when she didn't say anything.

"Huh?"

"Where'd you go?" he asked.

"Oh...err...nowhere." She shook herself out of her weird thoughts. Things were good between her and Tristan whether she loved him or not, and she was not going to ruin that.

"Okay..." He didn't seem too convinced, because he could tell that she was thinking about something, but he let it go.

"Well I better go, or my Mother will use this as another thing to hold against you," she joked.

"She's just worried about you," he told her wisely. "And I don't blame her."

"Me either. You're a bad influence on me," she joked.

"Oh sure, blame the guy. If I'm not mistaken you don't exactly put up much of a fight."

Rory laughed. "Yeah, yeah. I'll speak to you tomorrow."

"'Night Rory."

"Goodnight."

She hung up the phone and lay back on her bed. Yep, she was one hundred percent in love with him. And her Mother was right, that only made him harder to resist.

This was not good. Not good at all.


End file.
